The Places We Live

In 2008, for the first time in history, more people lives in cities rather than rural areas.

Despite that, more than a billion people worldwide lives in slums, lacking all the basic amenities that we often took for granted.

If anyone were to notice the photos I took, I sorta have keen interest in urban decay. So today I stumble upon this webpage today by Jonas Bendiksen of Magnum Photos called The Places We Live. It exploring the lives of these slum dwellers from Nairobi, Kenya; Mumbai, India; Caracas, Venezuela and Jakarta, Indonesia.

The exhibition showcases photos of the people and their houses, under the bridges, built using cardboards, and features narratives taken from those people themselves talking about daily life, how they got there and the hardships that they go thorough.

For me, reflecting the lives of these people to how the way I live my life sorta make me feel thankful to God that I was born in a family that can support a good life. Still, it sorta scare me how close we all are to being this unfortunate 1 billion. Not all of them are there because of their lacking, some have a great education to boot but the circumstances are stacked against them.

Still, I find it amazing that these people, faced with hardship and all that choose to live a legal way of life without resorting to go into crime as us humans are easily enticed. Maybe that's the beauty of faith.

Go and check it out.

The Places We Live