A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
250: Colorful umbrellas
Pernambuco has a rich and colorful culture. Both Recife and Olinda are widely known for colorful carnival that attracts millions of visitors. Also well known is the frevo, which has a very interesting history. Late nineteenth century, two military bands participated in carnival parades. These bands were very competitive and tried to outdo each other by playing louder and faster. Some members of these orchestras drove the bystanders apart with capoeira movements and with knives, and soon these rough guys from both orchestras were fighting each other. These fights resulted in many injuries and even deaths. Eventually, the knives were replaced by little, colorful umbrellas, and capoeira movements were further refined to the typical frevo dance. The man in the picture sells the little umbrellas.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2009, 2017
Adriano Antoine 