After moving from Uruguay to São Paulo, Brazil, during the pandemic, photographer Pablo Albarenga revelled in exploring his new home by bike. It felt like a safe, freeing way to familiarise himself with its vastness; the Brazilian city is the fourth largest in the world, and often referred to as a concrete jungle.
On a 60km ride one hot November Saturday, he passed through a colourful residential area with an elevated highway. At weekends, it is closed to cars. “The road transforms into a makeshift beach,” Albarenga says. “Locals meet friends, hang out and sunbathe. They take the city for what is and make it work for them … and they make it look good.
“Times are universally hard,” he adds. “We all need moments of self-reflection, peace and stillness like this. The image – and the person – remind us that we don’t have to hike Everest or swim in the ocean to find a little serenity in the madness.”
While the Brazilian flag is helpfully positioned to indicate location, Albarenga was drawn to the anonymity of the figure. “They could be any of us taking time for ourselves,” he says. He didn’t approach or make contact, wanting to preserve that moment for them.
Albarenga was enjoying a day off, so didn’t have his digital camera with him. Instead, he snapped a couple of shots on his iPhone 11. Then came a rush of inspiration. Putting his phone away, he rested his bike along the barriers, stretched, and lay down for his own moment or two in the sun.
