Victor Raison

el gatillo, the leader of a bacrim in his home

kids play in a shack in the SAn José barrio in front of a cargo coming in the port of Buenaventura.

a young boy passes in front of the forensic police taking away the body of a presumed gangster murdered in the Bellavista barrio.

After reports from HRW about casas de pique - butcher houses - the colombian government decided to militarise the city in 2014
The crimes have dropped since then but haven't stopped and now that the Farc are no longer around differnt bacrimes and pa

In San José pollution is a major issue. Around 8à families don't have access to water, and the authorities have stoped collecting the rubbish because of the violence.

Buenaventura, Tristes tropiques

Standing in front of a shack made of wood and tin, 8 youngsters are killing time listening to a local reggeaton. They are all from la Empresa, one of the two main Bacrims - bandas criminals - from Buenaventura. They are keeping a eye out for their chief - El Gatillo - 'Trigger' who lives in the house. Trigger is about 30 year old. A old gun in his hand he starts telling his story.

"From 15 till 19 years old, I was enrolled with the Farcs (the Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia - the main guerrilla of the country), I took advantage of the demobilization program launched by the state and now I am a local chief for la Empresa. I come from the Las Piedras barrio, I’ve been living here for a long time. All the kids that grow up here end up contaminated by evil. We kill here and there, we comply to the boss’ orders, if they tell us 'go kill this family' we have to do it no matter who and no matter where, this is the way things are going here, if you refuse the same organisation will send someone to kill you. Understand? »

This is the paradox of Buenaventura, it is at same time a huge source of income for the country being the main harbor and one of the most dangerous cities of Colombia. It caught the interest of the international opinion after Human Rights Watch published a report on the casas de pique - literally chop up houses - where the victims are dismembered alive. After the publication of this report the government decided to militarise the city to fight crime, with more or less success.

Victor Raison

I was born in Switzerland in 1986 from French parents. Photography is the way I share the stories of my encounters.

I discovered photography through dark room processing while studying graphic design at the London College of Communication. I pursued my studies at la Sorbonne in Paris with a master’s course in Modern Literature Applied to journalism, having right from the start the goal of becoming a photojournalist. While writing my final year thesis broaching war photojournalism at the age of Internet, I worked at the Magnum photo agency in the editorial department and the retouching department / digital lab. I then returned to London to attend a Master's degree in photojournalism and documentary photography.

These experiences have had a huge influence on my way to tackle my subjects, trying to connect as much as I can with the people I encounter, avoiding being intrusive or voyeur. My camera is my excuse to find myself in places where I otherwise would not have been able to be. I am now living in Colombia focusing on local and latin-american subjects.