AMAZON B-SIDE

Working with travel photography in the last years, I could experiment tourism in its multiples dimensions. One of its aspects that really fascinates me is its democratization. In the last decade, Brazilian middle class increased its expenses on tourism by 277%. Displacement, besides being more frequent, is more accessible and while in the past traveling was a privilege reserved for an economic elite, today the picture has changed and around 50 million people from this social strata, according to one recent survey, have the desire to travel. Tourism is a two way street that can lead us way beyond the iconic spots: When we watch from the outside, it is easy to pinpoint the enormous impacts caused by tourists on the communities they visit. However, when we are the travelers, we are overwhelmed by a will of puerile happiness. Traveling for tourism is like a celebration and tourists vibrates in a frequency of pleasure and joy. The essay “Amazon B-Side” is portrait of this puerile and elusive feeling during a middle class journey in a cruise ship all-inclusive along the Black River on the Brazilian rainforest.