A boy playing basketball on a cocaine terrace in Colombia: The best photo by Mads Nissen | Drawing

Me I fell in love with photography when I was 19, while I was studying Spanish and doing volunteer work in Venezuela. Growing up in the boring Danish countryside, I was curious about the world and involved in social and political affairs. Walking down the street in Mérida with an old camera in my hand, I realized that this was a good way to promote what I believed in, to try to change the world.

It was then that I became interested in the neighboring country of Colombiawhere the civil war was causing great instability. Later I went there to do work related to the Amazon forest, and in 2016 I was sent by the Nobel Peace Center to carry out the final stages of peace. I also thought about the millions of people displaced by the conflict, but I felt like I couldn’t talk about the chaos and inequality in Columbia without looking at how its problems were affected by the country’s cocaine production.

I didn’t want to put out a lot of work criticizing the world or racism, which I think have become issues of the past – and still exist today. Ask any Colombian about the jokes they hear at airport security when they travel abroad. I wanted to look at the entire list of the cocaine business, which means talking to and photographing the farmers who grow coca, the workers who harvest it, who run the labs that process the leaves – and the police, the military, the gangsters and the members of the cartel joined in the ongoing war.

The area where this picture was taken is Potrero Grande, one of the most difficult areas in Colombia. It is an area south of the city of Cali, and it is an important route for the transportation of cocaine, because it is where other highways and the Cauca river connect. I was on the court talking to a girl who was selling cocaine when I saw this boy, Didiller Angulo, playing nearby in the basketball court. As you can see, it was evening, and I couldn’t help thinking that he should be at home to prepare for school the next day.

In such communities there are many families without fathers or healthy men. For example, young men and women often turn to gang leaders who infiltrate the streets. When I talk to these kids, their only goal is to make a way out of poverty and become a professional soccer player, which worries me. What are the chances of someone like Didiller achieving this? If it doesn’t happen, what will they do? Apparently gangs offer a different dream – enough money to pay for your family and live the life you see on your phone.

I took this in 2017, when Didiller was nine years old. A few years ago I went back to Potrero Grande and asked about him, but I couldn’t find him. Someone told me he was killed, although I can’t prove it. Anyway, I hope it gets to that point, despite how dangerous the area can be – and it had buildings where criminals tortured and killed their victims – there was still a lot to like about it. Daily life continued. That’s the idea I wanted to present here.

For many people I have met, their role in this business is their only means of survival. Some accidentally spoke to me among themselves. Right now in Europe, where cocaine is the biggest consumer right now, it’s very difficult to find people who are willing to show the same courage as the farmers and criminals I photographed. People happily talk about how cocaine is used, not only at parties but also in everyday life. Then, when it comes to taking a picture, the conversation ends.

Sangre Blanca: The Losing War on Cocaine by Mads Nissen published by Gost

Mads Nissen’s CV

Born: Denmark, 1979
Above: Winner of the top award at World Press Photo three times, as well as POY International’s Photographer of the Year. But personally, important and unforgettable moments have happened away from the scene – on the ground, with people who chose to trust me with their sadness, fear, love or vulnerability. These are the moments that remind me why I became an artist

Top tips: Sorrow, friendship, friendship. That is what is most important. That is the power of photography. Great photography isn’t just visual. It’s about feeling – feeling the place, the people, the story from the ground up. And using ourselves and our cameras to present this to viewers. It may sound paradoxical, but I believe the deeper our understanding, the more honest and unfiltered we can bring to our viewers. So if our pictures are not good, maybe it is because we are not united enough