Posts

Introducing: Eat Rio Galleries!

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Notice anything different about the site today? I’ll give you a clue – I’ve re-shuffled the main menu a little. See it? That’s right, I’ve added a “Galleries” link as the last item on the menu bar.

I don’t want to get too autobiographical on you, but a little bit of background wouldn’t hurt would it? I bought my first camera when I was 7 – it cost 20p from a school fair and was very old and beaten up. Ever since I’ve loved taking photos and although I don’t really know what I’m doing, I really enjoy having a go.

 

Living in Rio has made me a little obsessive about having a camera with me at all times – you just never know when something interesting, beautiful or noteworthy might come along. One day it’s a crazy girl doing the most expert hair twirling I’ve ever seen, the next day I stumble upon a cool Asian food shop.

So instead of just storing all these photos on my computer at home, I thought it might be nice to group the best ones together into themed galleries.

Currently there are 3 galleries (Multiplicity, The Beach, Cristo Redentor), but I will be adding many more when I find the time to work through my archive. One rather boring note: if you click on the first image while the top menu bar is visible, you may find that it (the menu bar) gets in the way. To avoid this just scroll down a little before you click on the first image.

(Nothing But) Flowers

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When I was 13 I painted the walls of my room alternately bright red and bright green. This wasn’t an act of adolescent rebellion (my Mum wasn’t bothered), I just thought it would look interesting. The inspiration behind this particular colour scheme was the cover of an album by David Byrne (former front-man of Talking Heads) named Rei Momo.

I saw those red circles on the bright green background and thought to myself "Yes, that colour-scheme will look great in my bedroom...".

 

Funny how things link up isn’t it? All those years ago, I loved this album but had no idea what ‘Rei Momo’ meant. Then 20 years later, after randomly settling in Brazil, I was writing a blog post about the oversize chairs on public transport in Brazil. I needed an image of a larger person sitting in one such chair and what did I find?

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Sleepy Consolation

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I’ve never been good at getting a good night’s sleep. It’s a cliché I know, but it really does apply to me: when I have to get up for work it’s a real struggle and then on weekends I seem to be unable to sleep past 7.30am… Well yesterday my body-clock decided to mix things up a bit.

I had a weird dream that my Dad and I were having a meal here in Brazil, but the chef was slightly posh and English (as is my Dad). The chef came over to ask how the food was and my Dad proceeded to detail all the ways in which it was sub-standard (this is quite realistic). An excruciatingly awkward silence descended on the restaurant after my father had delivered his verdict and at this point the social anxiety got to much for me  and I woke up with palpitations (you can tell I’m English right?).

Not exactly a life-changing trauma, but as I recovered I realised that I was now fully awake and it didn’t feel like I would get back to sleep. A glance at the clock told me it was just after 6am – a glance out of the window suggested it might be worth grabbing the camera!

How am I meant to go back to bed with this outside my window? In the centre of the frame you should just be able to make out an aeroplane on its approach to Santos Dumont Airport. (Herb fans will notice that the Oregano in the window-box is doing rather well)

 

I decided that now I was up I’d make some coffee, grab my camera and take a few snaps. I also put some laundry in the washing machine and felt the smug glow of someone who knows they have achieved several things before 7am – this was a novel experience for me…

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