Photo Gallery Paco and Love
Thiago*, Juana, Lola and Benicio share a joint as they relax at their favorite place along the river the Isla Maciel district of Buenos Aires. Juana and Thiago are a couple, as are Lola and Benicio.
The Riachuelo is one of the world's most-polluted rivers, little more than a swimming garbage dump. The contaminated water presents serious health risks to those who live on it.
*All names have been changed.
Lola, 16, looks out the window. She has bruises and lacerations on her face following a fight on the streets. She takes paco and marijuana, drinks alcohol and sometimes does cocaine. She has turned to prostitution to make money to buy drugs.
Lola explains how her mother was abused during her childhood and was unable to care for Lola or her sister due to that trauma. She says her father was also a paco addict and that he was shot to death by the police during an attempted car theft in 2016.
Lola lies high on the sofa. She says her drug-addicted father was violent and that he often beat her and her mother with a stick. She says that between the ages of seven and 12, she was sexually abused by an uncle and that she's already had three abortions.
Lola and her boyfriend Benicio, 16, fighting with each other. Photographer Mancini says the youth have frequent physical altercations, mostly due to a lack of food or drugs.
But they are quick to make up again. The photographer says love is the only thing they have to help them deal with their situation.
Benicio and Lola rest after a night of drug and alcohol consumption.
Juana, 14, leans out over the Riachuelo river. She lives together with her younger siblings at her mother's place. They know nothing about their father. With the of her mother, who has spent years doing the same, she has resorted to prostitution to help take care of the family. Juana alternates between clean phases and periods when she takes paco.
Juana hugs her boyfriend Thiago, 18. His life has also been influenced by violence and drugs. His father is an addict and abused him.
Lola, Benicio, Juana and Thiago sit in front of a mural in Isla Maciel. The four regularly visit a rehab clinic, but they still haven't managed to get off paco completely.
Mancini calls his photo story "Amores Perros," which means dog love. "Their love protects them from their reality," says Mancini. But he says they have a peculiar way of showing their love toward each other - one moment they're hugging and kissing, and the next they fight like dogs.
