While traveling in Brazil, I noticed members of the middle class rarely opened themselves the door of their respective buildings. While the profession of doorman is getting scarce in Europe, it is extremely common in Brazil. It amounts to waiting for someone to demonstrate his will to enter or exit in order to open the door. This example reflects a much wider reality, which is that of service jobs which have all but disappeared in Europe while still being an integral part of the daily Brazilian city life.
Doormen, liftmen or valets are all strangely connected by the waiting which is an integral part of their activity: having to achieve always this same gesture, repetitive and dispensable. An imaginary need made possible by considerable wage differences, or in other words a cheap workforce facing a middle class who can afford these services.
It is this paid waiting, fraught with meaning, that I wish to explore in this project through a series of contextual portraits. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2006-2015.
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