My nephew (my brother's son) has just finished 9 months of research in Brazil for his Ph.D on the intersection of music and social movements. He is an excellent musician (percussion of all types - trained in Ghana, Cuba, and Brazil) and photographer, not to mention a very bright and gregarious kid. Check this webpage he just put together with photos he took while in Brazil. He will making a public presentation in Phoenix (he works and studies at ASU) in the near future on this topic.

http://desdebahia.wordpress.com/

Go through all the links on the right of the page for a very nice photo exhibit. Enjoy.

Nice pics Finnbow. That one of Rio from above was spectacular. Also Bahia's interior had some great shots and even that pic of the barbershop was cool. Felt real if you follow my meaning. Always great photography when you can pull people into the world you visited through pictures. Thanks.

cool stuff. The pics were interesting. It's a different world down there, it's good your nephew got the chance to stay there for so long. It's a dream for many to really enjoy there work and he looks like he's there.

Kewl ! You have every right to be proud...

Great pic`s! You certainly should be proud.

.....I like the slightly out of focus shot which is captioned, What The World Looks Like To Him....that's true originality....Great Shots!.....

your nephew realized a truism about music..if you want to truly know it,live and breathe the culture that is generating it..the people, the food, the streets..don't observe, integrate yourself...and hes done it the world over...apparently he is as perceptive as he is industrious... you should be very proud...:thmbsp:

I recently watched a special on tv about India Arie set in Bahia...remarkable stuff...

You know how I feel about folks bragging on their kin here. :D

I mentioned on another thread that some people learn composition and others seem to have a natural vision. It appears that your nephew has the vision. I especially like the photos where he breaks the rules of composition. There are some really great ones there. Keep beaming uncle.

Regards,

D-Ray

Wow, man, kid's got some mad skee-ilz with the camera!

Really beautiful photos! Looks like he has his choice of careers.

Maybe he can post some of the awesome music he must have heard and participated in while in Brazil.

Thanks for sharing!

your nephew realized a truism about music..if you want to truly know it,live and breathe the culture that is generating it..the people, the food, the streets..don't observe, integrate yourself...and hes done it the world over...apparently he is as perceptive as he is industrious... you should be very proud...:thmbsp:

I recently watched a special on tv about India Arie set in Bahia...remarkable stuff...

He was always a very good percussionist, playing everything from jazz to ska to salsa to symphony orchestra. During one college semester, he traveled to Ghana and worked in an orphanage. He developed a deeper interest (and matching skills) in west African music. Then he was able to finagle a number of trips to Cuba to study the musical culture as well as study percussion under the Grammy winning Cuban percussionist Oscar Valdés. He married and brought back a lovely Cuban gal. Then he swung this trip to Brazil for further graduate work (and more music).

He also founded a Latin band, Abateria (http://abateria.com/home.html), while he was a student at the University of Missouri and put out 2 CD's. The first of them is quite good and worthy of a listen. Here are a couple of reviews of it: http://abateria.com/press.html

You nephew has a bunch of talent. I was particularly interested in his photos of Brazil, having worked and traveled there many years ago. Bahia is one of the country's great areas and he did an excellent job capturing it.

I was surprised that he lived in a favela in San Salvador. Most of the favelas around Rio are so dangerous these days you would be lucky to come out alive.

Brazil's music has had strong social impact. Elis Regina, for one, and Gilberto Gil for another artist (jailed at one time by the military dictatorship, and later the Cultural Minister of Brazil) are only two examples. Your nephew has been fortunate to immerse himself in a country where music is so powerful.

I was surprised that he lived in a favela in San Salvador. Most of the favelas around Rio are so dangerous these days you would be lucky to come out alive.

He has some very interesting stories about being followed through the alleyways back to his place by some shady characters. He'd place a quick phone call to neighbors who would come out in droves to escort his blond-haired, blue-eyed *ss home. He had other choices but he and his wife chose to live in a favela. Ah, adventurous youth.

Great photos and an obviously talented nephew. I particularly loved the pics of the "Interior". Thanks for sharing the link with us.