Olinda Carnival

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Carnival is the most popular party in Brazil. In Olinda, the people took the streets with bands, music - called frevo, trumpets, horns, tubas, drums. Yesterday, we were in Olinda and we follow various bands and maracatus. Maracatu is a rhythm afro-brazilian. The Carnival begins Friday, March 4, but in Olinda the party already has begun.

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More Carnival

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Another bridge in the city already has the decor of Carnival. The town is decorated to forget the unforgettable poverty. This is the Maurício de Nassau bridge. This photo is very typical of our third or fourth world: over the bridge, you can see an old Beetle and a cartload.

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Uma outra ponte da cidade que já está com a decoração de Carnaval. A cidade se enfeita para esquecer a pobreza inesquecível. Essa é a ponte Maurício de Nassau. Esta foto é bem típica do nosso terceiro ou quarto mundo: passando pela ponte, pode-se ver um fusca velho e uma carroça.

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Carnival and bridges

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The bridges of Recife are receiving decorations for the Carnival and the main points of the party in the town also. Carnival in Recife and Olinda is a time of great joy - sometimes fake, sometimes excessive. This is the Duarte Coelho bridge in downtown.

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As pontes do Recife estão recebendo decoração para o Carnaval assim como os principais pontos da festa na cidade. Carnaval no Recife e em Olinda é uma época de muita alegria - às vezes falsa, às vezes exagerada.

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Carnival

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The town is preparing itself for the Carnival (march 5 - 8).

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Carnival

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The Carnival is near. Recife and neighbor cities prepares themselves. The shops, large and small, put carnival goods in showcases: fantasies, hats, sandals, necklaces.

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Ancient building and the moon

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This old and pretty building in downtown is used by a bank. I was walking there in late afternoon and the moon was in a correct position for a picture.

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Barbarism

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Recife has beautiful old buildings in downtown however the most of them are abandoned and unused. That is a national problem: the people abandoned the center of cities, in consequence the downtown undergoes a degradation process. That´s a little part of our barbarism.

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A raft

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I was in the beach of Maracaípe, south coast of Pernambuco state, last weekend. Maracaípe is a pretty beach of Pernambuco, it's appropriated to surfing because it has high and frequent waves. In the beach, there is a fishermen community and there are many rafts in the sand, like this in picture.

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Public telephone

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I loved this dirty wall and this public fone at 12:00 pm. The skull in the wall says: "cops kill, react".

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A girl and a heart

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A girl crossed the picture when I took this image. I loved drawings and images of hearts.

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Modern Art Museum Aloísio Magalhães (Mamam)

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I did go to an exhibition in the Mamam (Modern Art Museum Aloísio Magalhães). The Mamam is a city museum located in a XIX century mansion in the Capibaribe River bank. The floors of building were built in wooden, you can see it in the pic. The exhibition called "Alterned Cycles" contain photos and videos made by Rodrigo Braga, brazilian artist.

Mamam Home Page - click here.

Rodrigo Braga Home Page - click here.

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Basilique du Sacré Coeur in Brazil

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Amazing. Unbelievable. In Recife, la Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, did transform in a save to coins. There are in many colors and probably they're made in China.
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Visual chaos 2

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One more image of the visual chaos it dominates the town. I walked to the river bank, there were strong sun in Recife, I saw the facades along the river, I was searching something understandable in the midle of natural chaos of the city. Recife is hot and ugly and prepares itself to carnival.

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O caos visual que domina a cidade é apenas um pequeno pedaço do caos total da falta de administração.

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Visual chaos

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Recife has natural beauties and that eternal summer, but it is a synonim of chaos also. It includes visual chaos like in this picture taken in a major avenue from capital.

A boat on the river

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To begin the week, an image of the weekend. When I did go to the beach by bicycle, I saw these two fishermen in a boat. They were searching a nice place to fish. This is the river Jaboatão, it separates the cities of Jaboatão and Cabo de Santo Agostinho, both in Great Recife. Have a nice week for all.

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Quando fui de bicicleta para a praia de Itapuama, no fim de semana, encontrei no rio Jaboatão esses pescadores.

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Sun & Sunday

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Brazil is a tropical country, of course. The most of territory is situated between Equator line and Tropic of Capricorn. Recife has an average temperature of 28 grades Celsius at entire year. We live almost an eternal Summer in Recife. In Recife and Brazil, Sunday is a day to go to the beaches. So, I bring this picture of colorful parasols I took in the Itapuama beach, a pretty place located at south of the town. Have a nice Sunday!

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Fui de bicicleta para a praia de Itapuama pela nova ponte e pela nova ciclovia. Um belo dia de sol na Região Metropolitana do Recife.

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Parraxaxá

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These are lanterns of the Parraxaxá, one of the best restaurants in the town. The name "parraxaxá" means a war chant used by "cangaceiros" when they faced the police at the time ("cangaceiros" were outlaws of 1920's in Northeast Region of Brazil). The Parraxaxá restaurant is specialized in typical northeastern food. It's decorated like inner homes of Northeast and the lanterns seems itself with the typical balloons of the Saint John's parties.

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Lanternas do restaurante Parraxaxá de Casa Forte.

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Seventies or Sixties

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I was biking by my city when I found this scene: a blue Beetle and a psychedelic motorhome. I felt myself teletransported to Seventies or Sixties in a hippie camping.

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Eu estava pedalando pela cidade quando dei de cara com esta cena: um Fusca e um trailer decorado de forma psicodélica. Quase fui tele-transportado para os anos setenta, para algum acampamento hippie. Gostei da cena inusitada e trouxe para cá.

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Travessia / Crossing

Crossing of the Capibaribe river between the neighborhoods of Torre and Jaqueira.  This river has 240 kilometers from its origin in Serra de Jacarará to it's mouth in Recife. The name Capibaribe is derived from Tupi, a language native of South America. The river today suffers from aggradation and pollution, and although it is believed by townspeople that not only this but also other rivers of Recife could well be used for means of transportation, only a really small part of the population uses the river in this manner, usually people in a state of poverty.

(other pictures of the crossing here)

Travessia do rio Capibaribe entre os bairros da Torre e Jaqueira. O rio tem 240 quilômetros da nascente em Serra de Jacarará até sua foz em Recife. O nome Capibaribe deriva do Tupi, uma lingua nativa da América do Sul. Hoje, o rio sofre de assoreamento e poluição, e enquanto os recifenses acreditam que não só o Capibaribe mas também os outros rios do Recife poderiam ser usados como forma de transporte, só uma pequenissima parte da população usa o rio dessa forma, normalmente pessoas num estado de pobreza.

(outras imagens da travessia aqui)

Diocesan Seminary of Garanhuns

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It's one more pic of my trip to Garanhuns, inner city of Pernambuco State. It was a late afternoon, the day was blue, hot and bright. I did a walking tour by the city, I was trying to grasp that city.

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Seminário diocesano de Garanhuns. Final da tarde, depois do trabalho, uma caminhada pela cidade, tentando apreender a cidade. Aliás, a única maneira possível de compreender uma cidade é flanar por ela. Foi uma tarde azul, iluminada e quente. Garanhuns é uma cidade fartamente mal administrada, poderia ser uma cidade muito melhor, dedicada ao cidadão. Mas é o que se vê, em geral, nas brenhas de Pernambuco.

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Worn wall / Parede maltratada

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Worn wall at St Peter's Courtyard, a place of cultural convergence. In the picture, this is where what is suposed to be seen meets what wasn't supposed to be seen.

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Parede maltratada no Pátio de São Pedro. Num pólo cultural, esse é o encontro entre a parte do pátio que as pessoas olham, e a parte que não era pra olhar.

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Beach and sun and blue sky!

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I was thinking it's absurd there weren't a picture of the beach and sea in our blog, and Recife is a seaside city. Yesterday, sunday, we were in the Boa Viagem Beach, the main beach and most crowded in the city. Boa Viagem, in english, means good trip. We did a walking in the sand with sea water wetting our foots. After, we sat under a beach umbrella - like this in the picture - and we drink a coconut water. I took many photos and I choose this to share with all you. Have a nice week!
(To see a making of this post click here or here).
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The king of green coconut

Cart load to sell coconut water in a sidewalk. The cart load colored in green and yellow, the goods scattered on the floor, popcorns and sodas. The poster says: Gilvan, the king of green coconut. The interesting mix of colors caught my attention.

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Carroça colorida, mercadorias no chão, adesivo com propaganda política...conjunto interessante de cores.

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On the road

When I gone to Garanhuns - inner city of Pernambuco State - in my motorcycle, I realized this warning in yellow and almost erased by time, rain and wind. I returned to see better and I took a picture. Probably, there was a farm in this place. The warning says: Ouricuri Farm, animal crossing at 250 meters.

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Foggy Olinda / Olinda cinza

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Olinda is six kilometers from Recife and it is a world heritage city. In this photo, on a rainy morning, you can see the lighthouse and the seminar's church. In the foreground, an ugly side of town with poles, wires and tv antennas. 

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Olinda em uma manhã de chuva, ao fundo o farol e a igreja do seminário. O ângulo revela também em primeiro plano seu lado feio.

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Garanhuns - a inner city of Pernambuco State

I spent some days in Garanhuns, by work. To make the job a little more fun, I preferred to travel on my motorcycle. Both trips - round trip - were very good. Travelling by motorcycle or bicycle is much more pleasant than a car. I did some photos on the road and in the city of Garanhuns also. The photo above is the St. Anthony Church, in downtown. Garanhuns is a well located city, among hills, with lots of trees, and many squares and parks. But the urban planning is poor or nonexistent. The city gives priority to vehicles. Squares are isolated, surrounded by heavy traffic of vehicles, and not connected with the surrounding sidewalks. Also the church of picture is difficult to access for pedestrians. The pedestrians should cross two streets heavy traffic to reach the church.

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Passei alguns dias em Garanhuns, a trabalho. Para tornar o trabalho um pouco mais divertido, preferi viajar na minha motocicleta do que ir no carro do trabalho. Ambas as viagens - de ida e de volta - foram muito boas. Viajar de moto ou de bicicleta é muito mais prazeroso do que de automóvel. Fiz algumas fotos na estrada e também na cidade de Garanhuns. A foto acima é da Igreja de Santo Antônio, no centro da cidade. Garanhuns é uma cidade bem localizada, entre colinas, e bastante arborizada com muitas praças e parques. Mas o urbanismo é péssimo ou não existe. A cidade privilegia os automóveis em detrimento dos pedestres. Praças ficam ilhadas, cercadas por tráfego intenso de veículos, e sem ligação com as calçadas circundantes. Inclusive a igreja da foto é de difícil acesso para o pedestre. Há que se atravessar duas ruas de tráfego pesado para se poder pisar em seus degraus, para quem vem do centro comercial da cidade.

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Poles, trees, rooftops and cars / Postes, árvores, tetos e carros

A friend of mine, student of journalism, once told me that he learned in a class of photography that no matter what, no wire or utility pole should appear in a journalistic photograph, unless the pole is the subject itself. Now tell me how to avoid a utility pole in this city. I say embrace the environment as is.

Um amigo meu, estudante de jornalismo, me disse uma vez que na aula de fotografia ele aprendeu que de forma alguma deveriam aparecer postes e fios numa foto jornalistica, a não ser que o objeto da foto seja o poste. Agora me diga como evitar um poste nessa cidade. Eu digo: aceite o ambiente como é.

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Lost history and beauty / História e beleza perdidas

Recife does not preserve its history. This photo of a street in downtown shows three different stages of the same type of facade. In center facade, the doors are more preserved, although the wooden door was replaced by sliding metal door. The left facade uses metal sliding door and lowered the height of the doorway. And in right facade, the doors were destroyed completely. In my little experience as an architect, I think these facades should have more than one hundred years old.

O Recife não preserva sua história. Essa foto de uma rua do centro da cidade mostra três fases diferentes de um mesmo tipo de fachada. A fachada do meio tem as portas mais conservadas, apesar de que a porta de madeira foi substituída por porta metálica de correr. A fachada da esquerda utiliza porta de correr metálica e diminuiu a altura do vão da porta. E na fachada da direita, as portas sumiram completamente para dar lugar a um único e grande vão. Na minha - pouca - experiência de arquiteto, penso que essas fachadas devem ter mais de cem anos de idade.

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