brastilo

Brastilo: A Photographer’s Diary, Part 4 – “Welcoming Samba”

The following is an excerpt from the journal of Eduardo Camara, the Brazilian photographer who worked on the Brastilo photo shoot.

To finalize the Carioca tour of Rio, we went to Samba's neighborhood, to the "Old Rio" - the Lapa neighborhood.  This is where everything started.  Where our culture sprouts like trees, improvising our genuine music.  Where everything is mixed; the classic and the popular, the Barroco and the modern, the improvised and the planned, the pur Carioca spirit.

The Lapa Staircase is a mark that welcomes foreigners into Rio's Carioca Lifestyle.  This is our essence: receive all with open arms so they feel at home, hearing music that is fascinating while tasting our rich and unique culture.

Welcome to Brazil!

Brastilo: A Photographer’s Diary, Part 3 – “Urban meets Nature”

The following is an excerpt from the journal of Eduardo Camara, the Brazilian photographer who worked on the Brastilo photo shoot.

Not too long after leaving Arpoador, we arrive at Copacabana. In the 50's it was called the "princess of the ocean" and a favorite destination for travelers in Brazil. This was largely due to the influx of aristocratic Europeans, who were the most common visitors. In fact, it is this influence that led to the modernist art walkways, the “Portuguese Mosaics” made with Portuguese rocks. Designed by the best tropical landscaper in the world, Burle Marx, along with Brazil's most famous designer, Oscar Niemeyer, this modernist aesthetic defined a trend that would become modernist architecture. The beach and the buildings show this combination between Urban (Neimeyer, the architect) and Nature (Marx, the landscaper).

 

Following the beaches we arrive at Botafogo Bay, often seen in posters of the city.  The Sugar Loaf is a bucolic part of town that is at the foot of the URCA Mountain.  This location highlights the curves of the mountains, and the light provides nice shapes that really show the grandness of Brazil's natural resources.

Oscar Niemeyer, who will celebrate his 100th birthday this year, always says that his biggest influences are the curves of the mountains and beautiful women.

 

Brastilo: A Photographer’s Diary, Part 2 – “Applauding the Sunset”

The following is an excerpt from the journal of Eduardo Camara, the Brazilian photographer who worked on the Brastilo photo shoot.

The Carioca spirit is well-represented by the Brastilo Lifestyle. Casual elegance. Pure samba. As the creative process continued, more ideas started to come to mind, like using the trees and the home landscape to capture this elegance, this “samba”.

Brazil is remarkable for its diversity - the mixture of cultures that makes this nation so unique.  And Rio de Janeiro is distinguished by its magnificent geography, surrounded by the sea, the mountains, and the forest. 

But Rio is more than that.  Rio de Janeiro is enlightened.  The city’s beauty lured me to take the photo shoot out of my loft and go out to "discover" other cultural points throughout my beautiful city.

We started with Ipanema, the beach that inspired Tom Jobim and Vininius de Morais in the 60's when composing the song "Girl from Ipanema" (which is the second most popular song in the world, falling behind only Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”). 

It was in the 70's that the fame of Ipanema/Arpoador became eternal due to the mingling of lovely young people with intellectual thinkers on the sandy beach. Ipanema today is a neighborhood that represents the Carioca Lifestyle.  This part of the city is a catapult for styles and behavior that travel throughout the world. And Arpoador is a special corner of the city, where the young people surf early in the morning and in the evening applaud the sunset, one of my favorite things to do in the summer.

Brastilo: A Photographer’s Diary, Part 1 – “Carioca”

As Brastilo prepared to launch, we enlisted the immense talent of photographer Eduardo Camara. Eduardo, born in Rio de Janeiro and a professional photographer for over 20 years, embodies the “Carioca” spirit. He describes Carioca as, “a behavior that is simple, cool, sophisticated, and casual and innate to Rio.”

Intent on capturing the inherent Carioca spirit of the Brastilo brand, Eduardo orchestrated an amazing shoot that allowed the furniture and accessories to interact with their environment, and to let the environment highlight Brastilo’s casual elegance.

Eduardo kept a video log and diary during the shoot, explaining how certain locations inspired him. We’d like to share his insights into his country and culture with you. The next few posts are excerpts from his daily log. We hope you enjoy.

“I had the idea to take the pictures in my loft. It’s a contemporary design that was inspired and influenced by modern, Brazilian architecture, an influential aesthetic internationally. The house is located in the heart of Rio’s Tijuca Forest (Floresta da Tijuca), the biggest urban forest in the world.

“My loft is a sustainable home, with a system that reutilizes rain water and has solar energy and natural, tropical light. I eat from my fruit trees which are good for me and mother earth).

“Because Brastilo has an environmentally-responsible mindset, I immediately thought of the concept, CASA Brastilo, in which all the furniture and accessories used in the photo shoot would reflect the LIFESTYLE of a BRASTILO HOME OWNER. In my mind, this included flowers and tropical fruits mingled with the fresh air. It’s an urban dweller who enjoys all the technological benefits of the world, but at the same time works to preserve the essence of living in harmony with nature.

“From here, we were able to capture the right attitude and spirit, producing photographs that I’m quite proud of.”