Jamaika by José Sarmento Matos gives us a deep and sensitive portrait of life in Bairro da Jamaica. Officially known as Bairro de Vale de Chícharos, this neighbourhood was located in Seixal, on the south bank of the Tejo river in Portugal. It was a place full of stories and widely known from newspaper covers and countless news stories it has been the subject of over the years. José Sarmento Matos introduce us not to the neighbourhood itself but to the people who lived there. This project focuses on them: their lives, their joys, their struggles, their desires and dreams, their frustrations and sorrows. It explores the inequalities and prejudices they faced. It’s about their families and the experience of living in a community. About a past that remains very present today. About the future. The future of these people, the future of the neighbourhood, but above all, the future of a society that coexists daily with so many others “Bairros da Jamaica”.
José Sarmento Matos, born in 1988, is a Portuguese documentary photographer based between London and Lisbon. JSM focuses his work on medium/long-term projects on themes related to identity and social inequality and has published his work in media such as The New York Times, New Yorker, Newsweek, Washington Post, National Geographic and Wired, among others. He frequently collaborates with Bloomberg, NYT, Le Monde, LA Times, Washington Post, HBO and HISTORY. In 2020, he became a fellow of the National Geographic Society. His book JAMAIKA was shortlisted for the Lucie Foundation book prize and presented in Lisbon (NARRATIVA), London (Photobook Café) and New York (Printed Matter and Bronx Documentary Centre). In 2014, JSM completed his Master Degree in documentary photography and photojournalism at the London College of Communication, where he has been teaching the MA and BA in documentary photography since 2016. In 2015, JSM was named by Magnum Photos as one of the 30 best photographers in the world under the age of 30 for his work ‘Turning the Page’. In 2020, the project ‘Where do I belong?’ Abandoning the Venezuelan Dream.’ won the main prize at Estação Imagem, and in 2022 his work Jamaika won the Everyday Life category also at Estação Imagem. In 2024, José became a Leica Ambassador.
All the images exhibited are available for sale.
Leica Gallery Porto
Leica Gallery Porto Rua de Sá da Bandeira, 48-52
4000-427 Porto
Portugalia