Inside the picture: Rio de Janeiro Representing, not capturing

I travel with the ambition of shooting photographs that will later remind me about the sensations I felt in that certain place at that certain time. So does everyone. One wishes to be able to show to his friends or relatives an image that captured the heart of that place, a place which pressed upon us a deeply emotional imprint. An amateur photographer will rarely accomplish such goal. So it is not strange that when we develop the film or when we transfer the photos to our computer our heart sinks in disappointment: Are these the photos that we took? They do not even remotely resemble what we lived and remember so fervently!

How can we shoot better travel photographs? To me, the key lies in this: ask yourself about the place, and try to understand it: the first point is to be able to describe it in words, and then to find images that represent the place…

In the case of Río de Janeiro the point is evident that this is a place full of sharp contrasts where wealth and poverty live together just a few meters away from each other; the violent topography just right there on the seashore; the beaches next to the jungle vegetation; this is the place for the chiaroscuros, for rush and quietude. Partying, samba and the joyful Brazilian culture are things that come to our mind as well when we think about that city.

How did I find this coincidence? It is April 12, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro. I just arrived in town after a long flight and it is close to midnight. Before half an hour is gone I am out in the hotel terrace, contemplating the beautiful vista and setting my eyes upon that long thoroughfare shaped like a twisted snake trapped between the mountains and the sea…

This is the perfect location to shoot that perfect photograph that describesRio de Janeiro… illuminated by a dramatic chiaroscuro… Between the mountains and the sea we understand that we are here in this abandoned place, of sharp contrasts, where light and obscurity, civilization and nature live together.

I thought that 6 min. of shutter speed was the right manner of capturing the coincidence because the scenario offered itself for the photographer to shoot a photograph with lots of movement, the cars that come and go sporadically, the ocean waves that collide with the shoreline, all these are dynamic elements that need to be recorded with ample exposure time; besides the above this would allow me to use low ISO sensitivity and a small diaphragm aperture. I expected to have the greatest depth of field and the highest resolution possible.

I spent the entire night shooting photographs at various shutter speeds; but the combination of the cars in this particular framing gave to my picture the color and the sensation that I was seeking then.

The result is an image full of texture, color and contrast that does not capture the place but represents it.