Brasil is epic in its size, beauty and diversity. It amazes me that after the fall of colonialism that it remained one country due to its impressive variety, ranging histories and peoples. Perhaps what binds this gargantuan land mass is a sense of nationalistic pride that manages to shadow Brasil’s problems, such as wealth inequality, police brutality and corruption. Regardless, it is a breath-taking, beautiful, vibrant country, where music, passion, love and a zest for enjoying life is infectious. The first gallery of pictures centres around the themes of the sun, form, street art and industry.

The Sun

I am rarely awake early enough to bask in sunrise, but I managed to enjoy a few whilst sailing down the Amazon River. In the evenings, it felt like such an honour to see the sun set over the water, bringing with it contemplation over whose lives it is beginning to illuminate. I can understand how pre-scientific beliefs in the sun being a god came into being, due to its awesomeness and role in the creation and sustenance of life.

Atins

Cabure

A policeman on duty on a pier in Santarem, in the Amazon

Sunrise on the Amazon River, somwhere between Tabatinga and Manaus

An impressive display of colours along the Amazon River

Amazonian sunsets

Form

Everywhere you turn in Brasil, the eye and imagination can feast on a panoply of lines and impressive forms, whether the Art Nouveau architecture in Ouro Preto, or the jutting buildings which form the concrete jungle which is Manaus.

Edifício Niemeyer, Belo Horizonte

A bridge in Manaus

Urban Jungle, Manuas

Manaus

Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais

Church windows, Paulino Neves

Lencois Maranhenses National Park, northern Brasil

Urban Jungle, Manuas

Manaus, in the centre of the Amazon

Santarem, along the Amazon River

The soft wind scuttles sand across the dunes

Museu de Arte do Rio

Art Nouveau, Ouro Preto

ArtRio, 2013

ArtRio, 2013

Street Art

The walls of Brasil provide a thousand blank canvases, which the country’s artists are only to willing to fill with their imagination.

Favela street art, Complexo do Alemao, Rio

Graffitti, Belem

Cathedral scratchings, Ouro Preto

Street Art, Manaus

Graffitti, Belo Horizonte

Amazonian graff

Amazonian Graff

Downtown Manaus

Street Art, Belo Horizonte

Street stencils, Manaus

Barreirinhas’ Brigadiere

Graffitti, Manaus

Street Art, Trindade

At the foot of Christ the Redeemer: Rio de Janeiro

Graffitti, Belo Horizonte

Stencils, Ouro Preto

Graffitti, Belem

Downtown Rio de Janeiro

Street art, Santa Teresa in Rio

Vanishing Chirst, Santa Teresa

Mais Amor Por Favor, Santa Teresa

Favela street art, Complexo do Alemao, Rio

Visualise, Rio de Janerio

Favela street art, Complexo do Alemao, Rio

Industry

People generally work hard in Brasil, but they compensate that with a healthy dose of family, dancing, drinking and kicking back too.

Hundreds of passenger boats traverse the Amazon River every day, creating loads of jobs

Fish at a market in Manaus

Kaka is a tour guide and all round amazing man

Full Frontal Frutiness

TThe toruism industry is pretty huge, and this is the worst hostel I’ve ever stayed in, Belem

The casava root makes a multitude of food products, including tapioca flour

A maid escorts the family on a boat trip in Barreirinhas

Fishermen in Atins, a village with no roads and 2,000 inhabitants

A man selling hats whilst enjoying the samba

Bacalhau at a market in Manaus

Manaus Fish Market

In this clothing shop in Santarem I saw some ghastly designs