Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Yemanjá popular street celebrations
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It is hard to explain religious street parties in Brazil. What we call religious syncretism is actually the history of the country condensed into one festive day. Portuguese catholic traditions do not clash the African ancestry. They add to each other and create the uniqueness of these moments - people get out of the churches to light candles in corners and venerate the saints that are also entities. The complexity of meaning is easily translated into feelings, which are so present, so strong, so special.
It feels magical to witness popular street parties. They have no owners, they exclude nobody.
Mindful of the importance of the moment to the people attending these events, I always feared to intrude by pointing my camera at them.
As years passed and I got more experienced, I realized that when you respect so much the people you interact with, they notice it. When you allow yourself to get lost in the crowd, mingle with locals, absorb whatever that might make you uncomfortable, you became accepted and find yourself, reaching a point of trance.
