I photographed carnival for UOL in 2017 and 2018, focusing on faces and colors between backstage and the Samba stadium alley.
To understand the importance of this cultural event it is enough to know that Carnival is a national holiday in Brazil. A weeklong street parties are being held in the cities throughout Brazil, and street Carnival in Rio grew up to be the biggest open air party in the world. São Paulo is rising and being a huge metropolitan city the numbers of visitors are counted in millions of revelers.
The peak event of each Carnival is a traditional competition of Samba Schools that goes on from sunset to sunrise. It is a presentation of year’s work on costumes and choreographies, presented in special Samba stadiums in Rio de Janeiro and in São Paulo. In São Paulo, the samba stadium was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built in 1991. It holds about 10.000 people, who pay expensive tickets that complement huge investments paid by sponsors to cover millionaire expenses.