‘Ɖs momnt z līvñ a marc on m’: fremñ Rio undr Covid-19’z śado
(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 30 April 2020)
Nicoló Lanfranchi arîvd in Bṛzil t mc a film abt tṛdiśnl meḍsin n endd p ćartñ a traɉdi ɖt aqîrd a dīpli prsnl dmnśn
bî Dóm Filips in Rio de Janeiro
Ʈrzde, 30 Epril 2020
Foṭgrafñ a fynṛl z nvr īzi, no matr hǎ pṛfeśnl ɖ ftogṛfr, n īvn mor so amd a pandemic. Bt fr Nicoló Lanfranchi, capćrñ ɖ berịl v Covid-19 victim Iliẓbʈ Baez, 82, ẃć tc ples ɖs munʈ at ɖ São João Batista seṃtri in Rio de Janeiro, wz ispeṣ́li dificlt.
Az h foṭgraft ɖ grevdigrz in pṛtctiv cloɖñ wɖ Iliẓbʈ’z sun Henrique, 49, ɖ onli mōrnr alaud, woćñ on fṛm bhnd a masc, Lanfranchi ʈt v hiz ǒn faɖr, Piero. At 72, Piero wz in intnsiv cer wɖ Covid-19 in a hospitl in Voghera, in Lomḅdi, norɖn Iṭli – wn v ɖ wrst-afctd plesz on Rʈ.
“I imajind mslf in ɖ sem sićueśn, n I startd fesñ ɖs posbiḷti n I wz riyli tućt,” h sz. Aftr ɖ fynṛl, Lanfranchi tld Baez abt hiz faɖr. Baez ʈanct him fr capćrñ hiz muɖr’z lonli berịl – n fr śẹrñ hiz ǒn stori.
Born in Milan n best in Brlin, Lanfranchi hz wrct az a frīlans ftogṛfr in portrit, travl, nyz, n fotojrṇlizm. H prifŕz t spend tîm on asînmnts; h wns spent ʈri wīcs on bōrd ɖ Aqerịs śip az it reskd refyjīz arnd ɖ Mediṭreńn fr a siriz v Gardịn dspaćz.
Lanfranchi frst cem t Bṛzil in 2000 bcz h pracṭsz ɖ Afro-Bṛziłn art v capoeira n cem t b “baptîzd” in an iniśieśn. Orijiṇli dveḷpt bî inslevd Africn ppl az a marśl art dsgîzd az a dans, capoeira z an xampl v hǎ ɖs vast, vẹrid cuntri abzorbz culćrz.
In 2012 h foṭgraft wîldcat mainrz in ɖ jungl, in 2014 a socrtrṇmnt in a prizn in João Pessoa. In 2015 Bṛzil sufrd ɖ wrst invîrnmntl ctastṛfi in its hisṭri ẃn a teilñzdam nir Mariana c’lapst, cilñ 19 ppl n sndñ miłnz v lītrz v mînñwest slūsñ dǎn ɖ Rivr Doce t ɖ sì.
In Jańri 2019, Lanfranchi n I hd jst left ɖ Raposa Serra do Sol indijṇs rzrv in Bṛzil’z far norʈ ẃn anɖr teilñzdam c’lapst, in Brumadinho in ɖ sem stet v Minas Gerais, cilñ hundṛdz. At ɖ dzastr zon, Lanfranchi’z psistns, hiz abiḷti t ćarm n cjol, n hiz scil at cmpozñ foṭgrafs in ceos rendrd memṛbl iṃjz v ɖ dedli, avôḍbl traɉdi.
H arîvd in Rio on 3 Marć t mc a śort film abt tṛdiśnl meḍsin in Bṛzil’z semi-arid intirịr, bt ɖ pandemic ślvd ɖ project. Îṣletñ in Rio’z bīćsîd Ipanema nebrhd, Lanfranchi dscuvrd ɖt ɖ gret cmpozr Tom Jobim hd ritn mni v hiz bossa nova clasics in an apartmnt in hiz bildñ, includñ Chega de Saudade (Inuf v Loññ), most feṃsli rcordd bî João Gilberto.
H bòt N95 mascs, faund a drîvr hu ń ɖ siti n bgan wrcñ ǎt hǎ t foṭgraf ɖ pandemic ẃn so mni sićueśnz – hlʈsntrz n hospitlwordz – wr in’xesbl. H clīnd hiz iqipmnt wɖ alc̣hol jél, n ćenjd n wośt hiz cloɖz ć tîm h got hom.
Yzñ a dron wrct fr foṭgrafñ emti bīćz n an upscel membrz’ club fr a stori on hǎ c’roṇvîṛs spred amñ its priṿlijd membrz. H olso yzd it t capćr faṃliz on ɖer balc̣niz.
Sm dd ɖs fṛm śir ic̣nomic nīd, uɖrz dd’nt tec ɖ pandemic sirịsli. Ɖ cuntri’z far-rît prezidnt, Jair Bolsonaro, dsmist c’roṇvîṛs az “a litl flu” n argyd ɖt pṛtctñ ɖ icoṇmi wz mor importnt ɖn sośl distnsñ īvn az cnfrmd c’roṇvîṛs cesz n deʈs rouz.
Lanfranchi wz dsmeid t si Bṛziłn soḷdaṛti c’rodd bî fec nyz n far-rît popylizm. “I flt hǎ sic ɖ cuntri z, ppl r s’portñ a prezidnt hu opnli dz nt cer abt ɖ hlʈ v ɖ popyleśn,” h sz.
Ɖs discnct reẓnetd az hiz faɖr’z hlʈ wrsnd. Piero Lanfranchi hd gn t hospitl t gt a plastr rmuvd bt còt Covid-19. Faɖr n sun cḿṇcetd via txt, untl ɖ tîm cem fr a plastic box t b pt ovr Piero’z hed t hlp him briɖ n h snt a last mesij.
Lanfranchi cd nt hv sìn hiz faɖr īvn f hd bn ebl t gt a flît bac t Iṭli. Hospitlvizitrz r nt alaud, ɖr r rodblocs in Lomḅdi. On Saṭde h got ɖ nyz: dspt ɖ plastic box, hiz faɖr hd daid.
