Décio Araújo and his mesmerising take on São Paulo

Décio Araújo is an architect and the author of some refreshing Instagram art. We say art, because his choice and manipulation of São Paulo images is absolutely dazzling. Geometry, symmetry, surrealism form the basis of his at times claustrophic, other times liberating, work.

He is, by trade, an architect, so as you might expect there are lots of images of buildings, façades and urban structures in general. But it is the way that Décio slices and dices them, interspersing animal forms as he goes, which really cathes the eye.

The output is a series of beautiful and abstract interpretations of a city otherwise not famed for its beauty or its visual inspiration. In this sense Décio is more than just a cool artist, he forces us to rethink São Paulo, even to rethink urbanism in general.

Be sure to catch all of his work on Istagram @dearaujo 

The story behind René Burri’s iconic photo of São Paulo

Everyone has seen this picture before. Well, almost everyone. René Burri's iconic photograph is perhaps the most famous photo of São Paulo.

Taken in 1960, at a time when São Paulo was on a rapid rise to become one of the world’s most important industrialised cities, the black and white photograph’s timing and composition perfectly captures the both the moment and the historical period.

Burri was born in Switzerland in 1933 where he learned to play with his father’s camera. By the time he was 20, Burri was already a trained photographer of the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts and began documenting life as a cadet during his two years in military service.

Only after this did he have some contact with formal photography studios and starting his own projects. Before long he was published in French magazine Science & Vie and embarked on a trip to Paris to personally show his work to Magnum Photos.

David Seymour co-founder of Magnum was so impressed that he made Burri an associate member of the agency and arranged further assignments for him.

He soon began shooting in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America including Brazil. And it was while photographing in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1960, that Burri worked on an assignment for German magazine Praline and captured one of his most iconic images. The shot is of four shadowy businessmen walking on the rooftop of a skyscraper amid a smoke filled background, tens of stories above the busy streets below. It was a stunning, dramatical image that announced the metropolis of São Paulo's to the outside world.

Besides being iconic, the photograph has historical importance too in that it was a tipping point in Burri`s career. He shot it using an 18mm lens despite Magnum members only being allowed to shoot from 35mm to 90mm. Henri Cartier-Bresson, who had mentored Burri for many years and insisted on not using lenses below 35mm, was kept at a distance after this shot and Burri followed his own path into photography`s history books.

Burri in 2010 at the age of 81

He argued in favour of new and different photographic styles and continues to do so to this day. "Everybody now has a cell phone and can take snaps, which is great - even children," he says. "But my advice for young photographers is to go and cover things that nobody else is thinking about. Put your nose into things. Use the third eye of the camera and don't be completely dependent on Photoshop or the way other people want you to cast the world."

Photo: São Paulo seen from space

São Paulo as seen from the International Space Station

Taken by NASA from the International Space Station the photo of São Paulo (above) shows us what the city looks like when viewed from orbit.

As a huge urban area, it is easy to pick out although getting a good shot is easier said than done. Due to the earth's orbit the city flies by at a speedy 4.4 miles per second. If we do the maths that means that even at a very fast exposure of 1/1000th of a second there is still 7 metres of Earth motion.

The trick behind the São Paulo picture, and other photos taken from space, is similar to high speed sports photography. The camera is panned in the opposite direction to the natural orbit of the earth but at exactly the same speed thereby compensating the effect which would ordinarily cause blur or streaking.

The result is a photo which clearly shows São Paulo's main arteries as well its geographical footprint. You may notice blue-green lighting in and around the centro region and yellow-orange lighting on the outskirts. The reason for this is mercury-vapor lighting is more prevalent int the old centre whereas sodium vapor lighting is common in more recently built areas. 

Renato Stockler's aerial photos of football fields in São Paulo

 

Journalist turned photograhper Renato Stockler took these incredible shots of São Paulo's football fields. All are aerial photos of ordinary neighbourhoods in São Paulo with a communal pitch or "terrão".

A far cry from the lavish world cup stadiums with their green grass and media friendly aesthetics, these are the hardened earth pitches on which you have to play if you are from the impoverished peripheral neighbourhoods of São Paulo.

The pitches symbolise the precious little public space set aside for leisure in poorer districts. But, being less desirable neighbourhoods does not necessarily mean there is a lower demand for housing and, as many of Renato's photos show, open areas are being encroached on and menaced by property development and speculation.

In other words, this is a photojournalistic essay of a Brazilian endangered species; local football pitches.

In his own words Renato explains the symbolism:

"The reddish tone of a soccer field turns into a stage for the resistance of popular soccer. Some of them have their own football clubs, while others are publics spots. Some of them are mainly dirt, while others are of sand, rests of weathered grass.

"But they are a breath [of fresh air] for the hard daily lives of those who live on the outskirts of São Paulo. These fields show the urgent need for public and communal places to practice sports, a portrait of those who fight for leisure in a city such as Sao Paulo"

Photos of empty São Paulo streets during world cup games

Have you ever wondered what the world outside is like when the whole city is glued to their TV sets watching the Brazil game?

Amateur photographer Robson Leandro da Silva has the answer. He went for a walk around the city during the Brazil-Mexico game and took these shots of the deserted streets of São Paulo. 

Sé, the main subway station, at 4pm
 

Sé Station at 4pm:

25 de Março Street, downtown, at 4h16 pm:

All photos were taken on an Iphone. For more check out his page on Flickr

World Cup: The inside of Arena Corinthians looking clean, fresh & ready!

It`s cost a lot of money, taken a long time, the roof has collapsed in the process and with only days to go they are apparently still putting the finishing touches on the media centre and the VIP rooms.

Undoubtedly the Arena Corinthians, or Itaquerão, has had a troubled beginning.

Host to a number of matches in São Paulo, most of the stadium shots seen so far in the media have focused on the somewhat awkward-looking temporary stands which are due to be removed after the world cup and the lack of roof coverage which although part of the original plans is not an official Fifa requirement nor is it a fixture on many other world cup stadia.

However, if you stop to look past its troubled construction and have a look inside, it is clear Arena Corinthians is a top of the range stadium in every sense. There are 10 escalators, 15 lifts, 2 ramps and 13 staircases. It comes complete with an Auditorium for 360 people, a convention center and 6 different changing rooms!

The São Paulo team Corinthians, who will inherit it, have got themselves a flush building with some impressive features. Stairwells, concourses, corridors and rooms, everything is designed in the club colours of black and white.

Below are some choice photos of different areas which have not had a lot of exposure in the local or international press so far and which give an insight into what the day to day workings of the stadium will be like once operational.

Main concourse area

Press room

Home changing rooms

Home changing rooms

Away changing rooms

Away changing rooms

Stairways

The view from the stands

Beautiful tilt shift photos of São Paulo

Check out Andre Cese Arantes' amazing photos of São Paulo. He is a Brazilian graphic designer who studied at Senac and uses tilt shift, a photographic technique employed to simulate miniature scenes.

Below are two of his shots:

The MASP in tilt shift

Aerial view of São Paulo

Classic São Paulo police cars from times gone by

In São Paulo you are never far from the wail of a police siren or the sight of a police vehicle. Patrol cars are part of the urban wallpaper but whilst they have always been highly visible they’ve changed a lot over the years.

Here’s a look back at some of the most famous (and infamous) police cars of recent history.

1976

The bright orange and black colours seen here on a 1976 Corcel is synonymous with dictatorship era policing. Older Brazilians will remember this vividly.

1986

The Fusca, popularly known as the “Baratinha” or little cockroach, is possibly the best known police car of all times. It was used widely across the city of São Paulo from the 60s right through to the 80s  and was an instantly recognisable design classic. The 1986 model was one of the latest editions and already ran on ethanol fuel, an innovative feature  at the time.

1988

The Veraneio is probably the police vehicle most associated with the dictatorship era. Used by the Rota, the special forces of the São Paulo Military Police. During the repression era, the 5 metre long, 2 tonne truck was often deployed with no colours or outward symbols although few civilians were under any illusions as to what the 4 plain clothes men inside were really up to.

Opala

Another iconic car was the Chevrolet Opala, seen on the streets of São Paulo in the late 80s.

1998

In more modern times the Ipanema 1.8 or 2.0 litre station wagon was widely used.

For anyone interested you can see these cars and more at the Military Police Musem in São Paulo.

A look inside Walmart's Brazilian offices in São Paulo

Walmart's offices in São Paulo occupy the last four floors as well as the rooftop of a ten storey building in the West of the city.

Developed by Estudio Guto Requena, the corporate headquarters has colour coded floors, each of which uses a distint dominant wood type. Most of the furniture is the work of local Brazilian designers and there's even a mini golf course on the terrace .

Check it out:

Victor Nunes; the artist who uses bits of real food in his drawings

Victor Nunes is a 63 year old, retired art director, from São Paulo, Brazil. Last year he opened a Facebook account and started posting sketches in which food and other household objects becoming part of his art.

He claims to draw every single day and he certainly updates his page with a lot of drawings.

Below are some examples of his light-hearted work:

Chocolate hats 

Playful scissors

Bread crumb hats

Coffee foam

Popcorn art

Lettuce as you've never seen it before

The versatile pen cap

Gustavo Lacerda's photos of Brazilian albinos

Brazil is associated with many subjects but not so often with albinism, the absence of pigment in skin, hair, and even eyes.

There are, however, many albinos in Brazil and a São Paulo-based fine art photographer has been spending time finding, researching and photographing them.

After some time photographing Brazilian albinos Gustavo Lacerda released an award winning series of colourless yet colourful portraits.

Below is a selection of his best photos.

More are available on his website

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