Maxi Laventille, 2007

Maxi Laventille, 2007, digital video, 3mins 28sec

Maxi Laventille records a short taxi journey between the Fernandes Industrial Complex in Laventille, Trinidad to the central station in Port of Spain. Maxi taxis are small passenger vans that pick up passenger along a set route. The route taken was along a dedicate bus/taxi roadway, which skirts the northern edge of Laventille, the nation’s poorest neighbourhood. By chance, the maxi taxi I rode that morning had a blue film applied to its windows, which tinted the entire recording. The camera points not at the passing slum, but at the power lines just above. The diesel engine rumbles as a news report plays out over the van’s radio.

 

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