O Novo Rio: Queer youth culture in the Brazilian supercity in 12 pictures
Photographer William Rice has shared an exclusive look at his recently-released independent photography zine O NOVO RIO (The New Rio) with Attitude.
The diverse range of photos taken between 2015 and 2022 – during the rule of the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro government – tell stories of Brazilian city Rio de Janeiro and its youth.
Shoot locations include the iconic Ipanema Beach, nature reserves to the far south of the city, the historic Downtown, various favelas and what is claimed to be the biggest queer club in South America.
The release, which features design by George Haughton, pays particular attention to Rio’s queer communities and how they ‘find agency and intimacy during times of oppression via a combination of identity and self-expression, new Brazilian fashion and the escapism of the night’, according to a book rep.
William Rice on O NOVO RIO
All the photographs in O NOVO RIO were take on trips made between 2015 and 2022. Rio always held a strong attraction which started when I saw the James Bond film Moonraker as a kid. I remember thinking that Rio looked incredible – there was a fight scene on the cable car up to Sugar Loaf Mountain which made the whole city look completely out of this world, literally like another planet. Even though I would later understand the limited narratives that Rio was afforded in western culture, it sowed the seeds of the city and Brazil being places I wanted to explore.
On my first trip to Rio I found it to multi-faceted, diverse and very real in a way at odds to what I’d been shown in media growing up in Ireland. The stories of Rio tended to be somewhat fantastical. Photography had a fairly narrow view of the city, fashion photography especially would show very specific body types with narrow gender/racial/sexual representations, often shot in quite fetishistic ways. This zine is called O Novo Rio (The New Rio), because the narratives within were new to me. I’m not claiming it to be a definitive take on a city that is not mine, but I wanted to explore alternative stories to the ones I’d seen before my first visit.
The photographs touch on the day to day issues that face it’s young stars: religion, politics, sexuality, gender and the realities of life on the peripheries of a huge urban environment. Photographed during the right wing Jair Bolsonaro government ‘O NOVO RIO’ pays particular attention to Rio’s queer communities and how they find agency and intimacy during times of oppression via a combination of identity & self-expression, new Brazilian fashion and the escapism of the night.
A hyper-politicised and hyper-religious society, Brazil reminded me of my own upbringing in Northern Ireland during The Troubles of the late 80s and 90s.
Here, Rice offers the inside story of 12 specially chosen images for Attitude.
‘Hugo, Copacabana, 2022′
This is Hugo Lopes, a ballet dancer based in Rio. We shot at night on Copacabana beach, there was just us and a bunch of kids playing football. A pretty normal night on the beach in Rio.
‘Marlon, Devils Beach, 2022’
Marlon Sales (@marlon.ssales) is a ballet dancer and model from Brazil. He threw some crazy shapes at a place called Devils Beach, a lesser known spot between Ipanema and Copacabana.
‘Beatriz, Barra De Guaratiba, 2022’
This is Beatriz Andrade (@trizandrads), who lives in Rio. She’s wearing a local independent clothing label called Cosmo, who take the colours, shapes and typography typically seen around the city and turn them into beachwear.
‘Ikaro, Barra De Guaratiba, 2022’
Rio is a huge city, you can drive at at least an hour from the centre before you reach the city limits. This is Ikaro Santilhana (@ikarosantilhana), a fearless model, shot in a beautiful place called Barra De Guaratiba, to the far south of Rio.
‘Niara, 2022’
Niara (@caianiara) is a model based in Rio and part of a vibrant trans community in the city. This image was shot a few weeks before the last Brazilian general election and during what would prove to be the dying days of the Bolsonaro regime. He was pro-actively homophobic and transphobic, but this image of Niara shows the resistance and unbreakable spirit of her community.
‘Bruno, Barra De Guaratiba, 2022’
Bruno (@criolofino) is a model and stylist and on this shoot we worked with a local stylist Rafaela Pinah who put together looks based on traditional Brazilian fabrics and styles.
‘Hugo, Copacabana, 2022’
Another shot of Hugo Lopes (@hugoloopes) dancing on Copacabana at night. His freedom of movement reflects something beautiful about the people of Rio and how they express themselves with warmth and openness.
‘Matheus 2022’
Matheus (@furodebala) is from Rio and is becoming a successful model and creative in Brazil. He works under the name ‘Furo De Bala’ which means bullet wound in English. We thought it would be fun to stencil the statue of Christ into his bleached hair.
‘Devil’s Beach, Rio, 2020’
In Brazil its become a recent trend for women to make their own bikinis out of electrical tape, and wear them to the beach for the day. We thought it would be cool to apply this idea to mens swimwear and ended up with something a little subversive.
‘Felipe, Barra De Guaratiba, 2022’
Felipe (@afrofe) is a model based in Sao Paulo and Rio. The sunshine and shadow of Rio’s tropical climate makes it a beautiful place to shoot.
‘The Week nightclub, 2017’
The Week is the biggest gay club in Brazil, each Saturday night it’s packed with thousands of gay men dancing until morning. It’s electric. Many clubbers dance until its time to go to church on Sunday morning.
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