Special places archive

Canto do Brasil

In Canto do Brasil (I sing of Brazil) Geoffrey Hiller presents a dozen sequences of photographs, each with a sound track, about different aspects of Brasil. The images are full of gritty reality and vibrant life.

The photos and audio are packaged in Flash movies. Best with a fast connection.

Another way of being exists in Latin America, and Brazil’s own national psyche is distinctive. It’s a country of street poets, where taxi drivers and housewives wax philosophical about the meaning of life. It can be a brutal place, but beautiful too.

The image so often found in these photographs, of faces so wide open, is that of tolerance. Despite the incredible diversity in Brazil, acceptance is part of the language, both the one spoken and that of the body. When you greet someone you ask in Portuguese, “Tudu bem?”, “are you okay?” and it is really an invitation to interact, rather than a cue to go on your solitary way. There is no better place for a photographer. It’s okay to look. [Geoffrey Hiller, from the website introduction]