Bruno Barbey The Amazon River. Belém, Pará, Brazil. 1966.
“At the time I was in Brazil, my first of many trips there, exploring the favelas of Belém, a town located at the mouth of the Amazon. The year was 196
(...) 6– fifty years ago! As I walked along the river, I heard children splashing in the water and, quietly approaching them, seized the instant with my Leica, using a 21mm wide-angle lens. The challenge was to get close while trying not to disturb this perfect moment. I bent over the water, as if I was going to dive in myself. It was during that first extended stay in Brazil that I started using color seriously. Few photographers were at the time. Fortunately, I chose Kodachrome 25, a very slow film, because it withstood the humid climate. Fortunately, it is also a very stable film, and colors have not faded with time.
As if emerging from a green, liquid curtain that both hides and reveals, the two children smile, full of joy, their overlying bodies forming an X, limbs partially hidden by the cloudy waters of the great Amazon River.”
— Bruno Barbey © Bruno Barbey | Magnum Photos
