Between the city and the province of Buenos Aires there are three racecourses: Palermo, San Isidro, and La Plata. The one responsible for supervising and regulating these places is the Instituto de Juegos y Apuestas, who, in their Web site, refer to gaming as: "A pastime whose end is fun and is done voluntarily. Nevertheless, there are undesired affects of this social practice, such as compulsive or pathological gambling." Because if the pastime converts to addiction, the same institute hosts an 800 number where they offer psychological assessments. Following the social psychology of Inés Grant, 95 percent of habitual gamblers become compulsive gamblers. Gambling becomes a reason to live, a purpose that many times they seek unconsciously. The gambler says he goes to the tracks out of habit, and it's very difficult to accept that it's actually a necessity, and addiction. Grant also warns against the risks of family fun. "It's natural that the children identify with what their parents end up including them in. It's a process that, for the large part, is unconscious."
Exhibited in the photographic festival Fotografica 2009 in Bogotá-Colombia.
Nominated to the FNPI (Fundación nuevo periodismo iberoamericano) prize in photography on july 2010.
Published in Gatopardo Magazine Latin America and Revista Viva, Clarin, Argentina.
Look at the bottom of this page the audiovisual about this story.
To see the published articles look at www.issuu.com/helkinrene
To see the entire project look at www.helkinrenephoto.com
