Scenes from Brazil

May 22, 2012 12:39 PM

Scenes from Brazil — a photo gallery
posted by Tom-B (24 comments total)

I want to jump out of that tree NOW. RIGHT NOW.
posted by eugenen at 12:44 PM on May 22, 2012

In Focus is amazing pretty much every week.
posted by HumanComplex at 12:55 PM on May 22, 2012

Not even one capoeira photo?
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:08 PM on May 22, 2012

Rio's harbor is just ridiculously gorgeous. Only Sydney comes near it, but I'm afraid even Sydney takes second place here. That library's not too shabby either.
posted by Fnarf at 1:09 PM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Many of these are interesting and/or beautiful, but I hope I'm not alone in having expected stills from the Terry Gilliam masterpiece.
posted by mysterpigg at 1:09 PM on May 22, 2012 [11 favorites]

In Focus is amazing pretty much every week.

And unless something has changed, it's run by mefi's own kokogiak.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:13 PM on May 22, 2012

To be fair, mysterypigg, some of these could be stills from that movie.

But to satisfy your hope, here are scenes from Brazil, the movie.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:13 PM on May 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

Just finished a book about Brazil, so you've hit my interest right on the head. Thanks.
posted by Jehan at 1:16 PM on May 22, 2012

Haha, very true, filthy light thief. Some of these scenes are at least as terrifying as anything in that movie, more so because they are real. I said "interesting and/or beautiful" precisely because, well, a picture of someone smoking crack from a coke can may be well-composed and interesting, but I don't know if beautiful is how I'd describe it.
posted by mysterpigg at 1:21 PM on May 22, 2012

que saudade...
posted by iamck at 1:24 PM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

That Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil picture is absolutely stunning. Like something out of Candida Höfer's book Libraries.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 1:44 PM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

Looks like the direct link to the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil pic doesn't work the way I thought it would. Sorry about that. It's picture #26.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 1:52 PM on May 22, 2012

That Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil picture is absolutely stunning.

This was one of the places my wife and I visited in Rio. It is even more stunning in person.
posted by Mental Wimp at 1:56 PM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

Thank you for these pictures. I was happy to see that they covered more than Cristo Redentor and favelas and social problems (though each of those is well represented, as they should be). Brazil has some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen, and truly vibrant indigenous cultures that many Brazilians - let alone foreigners - never get to see firsthand. Also, Iguacu, wow. I have never been to Niagara Falls and now that I have seen Iguacu probably will never bother going there!
posted by whatzit at 2:00 PM on May 22, 2012

I saw a picture from Iguacu when a friend went there, and the water was so high that the falls went all the way around -- the entire cliff in the photo was waterfall after waterfall, and even one of the walkways was nearly submerged. Just amazing.
posted by Fnarf at 2:35 PM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

"There you are, your own number on your very own door. And behind that door, your very own office! Welcome to the team, DZ-015"
posted by blue_beetle at 3:33 PM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Brazil is like the kid in high school you couldn't help half envying, half hating because they were so beautiful and fun and such a good dancer and just enjoying life to the brim, even when things weren't always going their way.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:41 PM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

That crack smoking picture brought back unpleasant memories of the time I stayed in a favela in Rio de Janeiro.
posted by cloeburner at 5:04 PM on May 22, 2012

#17 is some bad art.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 5:22 PM on May 22, 2012

Quite a beautiful find, shows a wide array of Brazil's culture frozen in time.
posted by Prudentia at 6:36 PM on May 22, 2012

I spent quite a bit of time in Brazil in the 90s, and to this day I miss the country a lot. A lot.
posted by seawallrunner at 8:43 PM on May 22, 2012

Wow, Those shots were amazing! I believe I recognized a few shots as ones in my compilation of circulating desktop wallpapers.
posted by Agentfyre at 9:57 PM on May 22, 2012

Fnarf - I spontaneously proposed to my (now) fiance about 6 months ago at the end of the walkway shown in that photo you linked to. Iguaçu Falls is, without any question, one of the most amazing places I've ever seen in real life or otherwise.
posted by pkingdesign at 10:26 PM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

The amazing movie City of God is about the people who live in the drug-lord-ruled slums of Rio de Janeiro. Go see it, if you haven't - it's funny, brilliant, beautiful, and gripping.

And then watch the DVD "extras" documentary, with interviews of the Chief of Police and activists.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:42 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]