Another ode to Brasil
I originally had planned to write about something else this week, but there was just too much goodness coming from Brazil this week, so I had to dedicate another piece to one of my favorite countries in the world.
In case you forgot, there's a playlist to accompany this Substack if you want to immerse yourself completely in Brazilianess (I highly recommend):
CREATIVE WORK
VOGUE LATAM - Photography by Ángel Castellanos, Film by Gustavo Cruz, realised by Sebastian Cabrices
A little ode to the Carioca aesthetic. For those of you who don't know yet, the Cariocas are the colorful and stylish inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro. This incredible shoot captures the sexiness, the aliveness and the spirit of Rio de Janeiro—many of the pictures taken at the Copacabana Palace, one of the most iconic hotels of Rio since 1924.
Images Vogue LATAM
If you speak Spanish, there's a beautiful article written about the shoot and what it's trying to capture, but in short the shoot is an homage to the 'Cidade Maravilhosa' (marvelous city), a place where candomblé, samba and spiritual journeys co-exist, with echoes of Yemayá, Carmen Miranda, Orfeu Negro and Vinicius de Moraes. It's somewhat mystical, sensual, showing the spirit of the Carioca in all its theatrical sense. A marvelous job done by both Ángel and Gustavo and the wider team. The work immediately transports me to Brazil, and I love that it doesn’t show just the glamour, but rather a mix of realness (running out of the hotel, getting in your swimwear to jump in the water at the beach) and both mysticalness of Rio de Janeiro.
Video by @VogueLatam
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER — DOCU BANGAY SAMBA SCHOOL, photography by Claudia Steinert and direction by Gabriel Novis
Another story that takes place in Rio de Janeiro. As mentioned in a previous article, Jean Paul Gaultier has a special connection to Brazil—carnaval has been central to its storytelling, and who could forget the iconic outfit he created for Madonna's concert in Brazil?
His love for Brazil is again evident in his short 16mm documentary 'Bangay', that celebrates the vibrant and resilient LGBTQIA+ community within a samba school. The docu centers around @gresbangayoficial, Brazil's first queer samba school, where they don't just live for Carnaval, but they are a real community for each other—a safe space where people can express and be themselves, without any judgment.
Video JPG Instagram
The documentary and it’s accompanying images beautifully captures how Bangay, located in the Bangu neighborhood in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, is both a place of refuge and a stage of expression. I love how JPG is celebrating these voices, especially in a time when the LGBTQIA+ community is under continuous attack all around the world, these are the stories that should be told.
Images JPG Instagram
Images Claudia Steinert Instagram
BYREDO - by Rafael Moura
Byredo used Brzil as the background for it’s new perfume launch Alto Astral, which makes sense since one of it’s top nodes is Coconut Water, one of your key drinks at a beach in Brazil. I love how they tapped into the colourful hair, and the campaign is a little cheeky. Great work by Rafael Moura.
H&M - Olá Brazil, shot by Hick Duarte
One of the hot new things is H&M's arrival in Brazil, and though I'm a bit biased as I know the team behind the campaign, I love how they chose to have music as a key element, something that is so essential to Brazil. The campaign features icons such as Gilberto Gil, Anitta and Agnes Nunes, amongst 36 more talents representing Brazil's diversity, and was shot by Brazilian photographer Hick Duarte.
CREATIVES TO FOLLOW
After my 3 Odes to Brazil I've again collected a few really nice accounts of creatives to follow if you want to continuously immerse yourself in beautiful work shot in Brazil or by Brazilians, so here come my highlights.
Rafael Moura
If I had to describe Rafael Moura's work, I would probably describe it as alive, somewhat cheeky, and as if you're seeing Brazil captured in a beautiful movie. Rafael is a photographer and creative director born and raised in Rio who photographs beyond a specific theme. He captures fashion, landscapes, wildlife, but all in a similar style, trying to show the real vibe of the place and works mostly on film. He's worked for brands like Jaded London, Rat & Boa, Zara and also has a lovely IG account called brzworld, where he curates photography and film capturing Brazil.
Photos Rafael Moura Instagram
And I also saw he created a playlist for Rat & Boa, which I'll share here, because experiencing Brazil is always better through music:
Ángel Castellanos
Ángel is a photographer and director, originally from Venezuela but now based in Brazil. He's the creator of the shoot for Vogue LATAM, but has also done other great work for Numero Netherlands, Donde Esteban, Leslie Amon, Rat & Boa and Zara amongst others. What I love about his work is that it's voracious, there is a bit of humor in there and in the end very sexy, a little provocative even, couples kissing seem to be a returning theme in his work. I feel it captures Brazil in a way that's very true, cause if there is one word to describe Brazil, is that it’s very sexy and there is a playfulness to Brazil anf I can sense that Ángel always shows this in his work.
Images @angelcr Instagram
Gustavo Cruz
I discovered Gustavo Cruz through his work with Ángel, as it seems they often work on the same campaigns, they worked together for Donde Esteban, Numero Netherlands as well as the new Vogue Latam work. One to follow if you want to discover more of Brazil's sexiness and joy. I unfortunately couldn't find much about Gustavo's background, but perhaps more about this later. Will just leave you with some of his work to enjoy.
Videos @aboutcruz
Claudia Steinert
Born and raised in Brazil, Claudia Steinert is a fashion and beauty photographer working between Rio de Janeiro and Paris. She specializes in analog photography and her work is bold, colourful in my opinion sensual but in a very feminine way. She's created work for Jean Paul Gaultier, one of my favorite swimwear brands Cante Lisboa, and with her production company Mawé Productions has produced great campaigns for Rat & Boa, Zara and Jade London amongst others.
Images Claudia Steinert website and Instagram
Patrick Marques
I discovered this photographer through Rafael Moura, and though I couldn't find much information about his background, I do love some of the pictures, so decided to include him in this list and show some of his beautiful work.
Images Patrick Marques Instagram
That's it for this Ode to Brasil. It didn't go unnoticed by me that most of the creative work I follow is by men, and I would love to feature more women. Perhaps some of my readers here follow some incredible female creatives or photographers from Brazil, and I would love to hear from you!
Also read Part 1 & Part 2:
An ode to Brasil, meu amor! (Part 1)
Your fave Substacker is a little late with the newsletter (2 days, oops), the result of a very out-of-hand throat infection that turned into a tonsil infection, and I needed to rest. However, while r…
An ode to Brasil, meu amor! (Part 2)
I promised you guys a quicker follow-up Substack, but I failed. I’m sorry, life, health, concentration, and a bit of work procrastination got in the way. I was kind of bothered by it myself, but then…