I’ve been getting back into photography lately after a very long hiatus.

My grandpa left me an old Minolta SRT 101 35mm film camera he had a friend buy for him in Japan and bring back to the States in the late 1960s. That’s the camera I used when I took photography in high school.

The class was simple black and white photography. Film, darkroom, contact sheets, prints. No phone screen, no instant review, no Photoshop to save a shot you didn’t quite get right. You had to slow down.

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In the heart of Brazil, there is a place where civilization suddenly stops and nature creates its endless kingdom. We are talking about the almost surreal border between the city of Manaus and the enormous Amazon rainforest, a contrast that leaves you speechless. On one side, a modern city, full of noise, buildings and urban life. On the other, a dense green sea that swallows the horizon and breathes the silence of forgotten times.

Seen from above, the border between the two worlds seems drawn with a ruler: asphalt and concrete that, from one point on, disappear completely before the thick foliage that stretches for thousands of kilometers. Manaus, considered the gateway to the Amazon, is the last stop before the desert. The city pulsates day and night, but just a few steps away begins the absolute kingdom of nature, where time slows down and the air becomes heavy with so much humidity and life.

It is difficult to find such a strong contrast anywhere else. In Manaus, skyscrapers strive for the sky, and just a few minutes away, giant Amazonian trees do the same, but silently, for thousands of years.