Canto do Brazil

Each regional section contains three parts. Total playing time: approximately 25 minutes
Returning to Brazil after 25 years I was captivated once again by the charm and beauty of the country. No doubt the Brazilians are photogenic subjects, but it goes deeper than the image. Compared to the paranoia of people I've wanted to photograph on American streets, Brazil is absolutely refreshing.

Another way of being exists in Latin America, and Brazil's own national psyche is distinctive. It's a country of street poets, where taxi drivers and housewives wax philosophical about the meaning of life. It can be a brutal place, but beautiful too.

The image so often found in these photographs, of faces so wide open, is that of tolerance. Despite the incredible diversity in Brazil, acceptance is part of the language, both the one spoken and that of the body. When you greet someone you ask in Portuguese, "Tudu bem?", "are you okay?" and it is really an invitation to interact, rather than a cue to go on your solitary way. There is no better place for a photographer. It's okay to look.

But it's not always a pretty picture. According to a World Bank study, Brazil has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any country. The fifth biggest nation in the world, Brazil has a population of 180 million people. Approximately 24 million Brazilians live in extreme poverty and earn less than $1 a day while the minimum salary of $65 per month hasn't changed from when I lived there 25 years ago.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has plenty of challenges ahead. Relations with the United States are at an all time low. Unless we here in the north begin to recognize our southern neighbor, the price of further isolation will be too great. For all of us.