Caring - André François

Caring – A documentary about humane medical care in Brazil

The book Caring – A documentary about humane medical care in Brazil is the result of photographer André François’ expedition throughout the five regions of Brazil. The photo-documentary portrays the humanization and care inside hospitals, health centers and among health teams.

Originally published in 2006, Caring now is available as an app and it’s the first of a sequence of documentaries about health that André François has done on the following years, and which he has the intent of publishing on iPad as well.

This edition features video interviews with the author, making of and other curiosities of the stories shown on the book. The English version is available for free download here, on Apple Store, as the Brazilian version.

The photographer searches stories from all over Brazil, from big cities, such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, to small isolated villages in the Amazon. These people show that, no
matter the resources, taking care of the patients is a fundamental part of their work.

Oscar Soares, for example, is a doctor that once a year spends 3 months traveling across the river in the Amazon, near the border with Colombia. The doctor stays at several Indigenous communities. His strategy to have people open up to him is to arrive slowly, talking to people, listening to their needs. As time goes by, Oscar had seen everyone in the community and can go on with his journey.

Stories like Oscar’s are inspiration to other people. These sensitive images document the challenges and achievements of the health teams from different realities, widen up the reflection about humanization and inspiring new actions which may offer tenderness and dignity to these professionals routine.

Some of the images from Caring were on exhibition at the Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection event in a special room, in 2009.