El Principito de Caracas

A child's vision of one of the world's most dangerous cities

When a certain site becomes the center of attention, it's usually because of a specific occurrence. In the case of Caracas, Venezuela, violence, crisis and politics are typical topics that we relate with Caracas every time we see or hear about it. Undoubtedly, these issues are relevant and real in the context of this Caribbean valley but in the same time, we are also creating a biased perception. In this sense, Caracas is always represented in a quantitative way, it talks about numbers, statistics and political trends, a series of factors that always seek to be characterized by numbers. It is in this way that trying to make visible the contrary or visualize another point of view of Caracas becomes every time more difficult. In addition, it is hard to find the beauty within the chaos but it is even harder to speak about light in an environment where darkness dominates. The present project shall show one of the many faces that Caracas has. It is a story that you cannot tell with numbers or statistics, a story that speaks from a version of a person who sees beyond light and colors. This is the story of Carlos Cabrera, a 13-years-old boy from Caracas with a congenital glaucoma who has only got 8% vision left. He tells us his story, his version of how he sees, feels, interacts and connects with one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Carlos tells me in a very sincere and direct way how he perceives his reality and how he feels the city through all his senses. Carlos speaks to me with the most honest and pure thing that this child has: His heart. This is why I use the famous phrase "only with the heart you can see well; the essential is invisible to the eyes" of “The Little Prince” of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as an allegory for Carlos’ version of Caracas. With this metaphor of life, Carlos invites us to look beyond tangible things. This project does not belong to me; it is just a visual representation of how Carlos sees Caracas.