Bate-Bola - Rio Secret Carnival #138, 2020

Vincent Rosenblatt  

Bate-bola #138, Cohab de Realengo, Rio de Janeiro 2020.
18 x 27 cm - Edition 4/12 - Fine Art print on baryta paper.

This vibrant photograph captures two individuals in an energetic celebration, embodying the spirit of festivity and camaraderie. The subjects are adorned with striking bate-bola masks featuring vivid colors and intricate patterns, evoking a sense of cultural richness. Their headdresses, bursting with shades of green, yellow, and white, suggest a connection to Brazilian or carnival traditions. Standing side by side on a bustling street, their intertwined arms convey unity and friendship. The contrast of the glowing neon lights in the background with the nighttime setting amplifies the lively atmosphere. Painted arms accentuate their dynamic presence, enhancing the festive mood. The photograph's composition, with its focus on the subjects and minimal background distractions, emphasizes the exuberance and freedom often associated with street festivals and cultural celebrations.

The series dedicated to Bate-Bola — the carnival of Rio's northern and western neighborhoods — transcends simple reportage: it reveals an aesthetic of trance, an alteration of perception in which the street becomes a sacred stage.

Bate-Bola is a carnival tradition from the outskirts of Rio: costumed groups with flamboyant masks, colorful capes, and bursts of sound parade through the streets, transforming them into an ephemeral theater. Drawing from multiple influences — from European Pierrot figures to Afro-Brazilian spiritualities and even pop culture — it condenses excess, invention, and collective vitality.

Vincent Rosenblatt does not photograph from the outside: he immerses himself, dances with the participants, capturing the visual lightning of the moment. Flashes, saturated colors, and tight framing convey the luminous violence of the carnival and open onto a hallucinatory experience. More than mere evidence, his images are icons: they erase the boundaries between document and vision, memory and apparition. This work forms a counter-narrative to the favelas, often reduced to violence by the media. Here, they assert themselves as centers of creativity and dignity.

Each photograph becomes a passage, a threshold crossed into an altered reality where the street is transfigured into a mythological stage. In this sense, Vincent Rosenblatt creates not only a living archive but a body of work fully situated within the field of contemporary photography, where popular art enters into dialogue with the avant-garde.

“I seek images that convey the trembling of reality… that moment of big bang, of original chaos when suddenly we are no longer in observation, but in enchantment."