Severe overcrowding is perhaps the most basic problem plaguing Brazil's penal system.
The Brazil’s prison population is the fourth biggest in the world, after US, China and
Russia, and is growing faster than any other country. While the number of prisoners in
those countries has declined over recent years, in Brazil it grew by 33% between 2008 and
2014. According to the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), there are now around 680,000
people in the country's jails, which are designed to hold 300,000. Just a decade ago,
Brazil had around 270,000 people in custody.
Tommaso Protti (Italy, 1986) is a documentary photographer focusing on conflict and contemporary issues in Brazil and Turkey.
He graduated in Political Science at the University of Rome and explored several career paths before and after his studies. In 2010, he took his first steps with photography and in 2011 he moved to London where accomplished a Masters degree in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication. Since then, he has worked as a freelance photographer devoting himself to documenting stories in Turkey, Italy and Brazil. His long-term project investigates the social fabric of Southeast Turkey and documents the struggle of the Kurdish minority to obtain full autonomy and recognition of their cultural identity.
His work has been exhibited in a number of galleries and festivals including the Royal Albert Hall, Les Recontres d’Arles and Prix Bayeux-Calvados, Belfast Photo Festival, 10b Photography gallery and the Macro Museum in Rome. Tommaso was a participant of the Eddie Adams Workshop and the Emerging Talent program of Reportage by Getty Images and was granted the National Geographic Grant.
His work has been featured in internationally prominent publications including The New York Times, Time Magazine, National Geographic, The New Yorker and Le Monde among others.
