To be in Brazil during such a consequential election is everything I’d trained for as a photojournalist: to witness history and tell a story whose consequences may shape the country for generations.
Brazil knows better than most the cost of losing democracy. The 1964 military coup ushered in 21 years of dictatorship marked by censorship, political repression, imprisonment and torture. Democracy returned in 1985, followed by the 1988 Constitution that established the democratic framework governing the country today.
More recently, Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, from 2019 to 2022, deepened political divisions and strained democratic institutions. His repeated attacks on Brazil’s electoral system and refusal to fully accept his defeat helped fuel the January 8, 2023, attacks on Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace by supporters seeking to overturn the election results.
March 16, 2025—Tens of thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro gathered on the sands of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for a protest aimed at pressuring the National Congress to approve a controversial bill granting amnesty to those jailed for their involvement in the January 8, 2023, attacks in Brazilia. The rally comes just nine days before Brazil’s Supreme Court scheduled a crucial March 25 hearing where a five-justice panel will decide if former President Jair Bolsonaro faces trial for alleged coup plotting. Last month, Bolsonaro was formally charged for his role in a failed plot to block his left-wing successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from taking office following his victory in the October 2022 elections.
Lula’s return to the presidency offered a different direction, but the divisions of the Bolsonaro years remain deeply embedded in Brazilian society.
The 2026 election presented another consequential choice. With Lula seeking reelection and Flávio Bolsonaro carrying forward his father’s political movement, the stakes extended beyond the two candidates. The contest was about Brazil’s democratic institutions, political identity and future direction.
August 16, 2026—Brazilian Senator and presidential candidate FLAVIO BOLSONARO launcheD his 2026 presidential campaign alongside his running mate, Brazilian lawmaker ALFREDO GASPAR during a rally on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is seeking the presidency in Brazil’s 2026 election. The campaign launch marks the beginning of his official bid for the presidency.
Across South America, the political pendulum has swung between left and right-wing leadership, against a history that includes military dictatorships as well as struggles for democracy. Brazil’s challenge would not simply be to choose a president, but ensuring political differences do not come at the expense of democratic principles.
Throughout the campaign, I have remained true to the principle that has guided my career: take pictures, not sides. Truth be told, I borrowed that line from Nick Nolte, who played a photojournalist in the brilliant 1983 film Under Fire. I saw the movie that year, and those words and philosophy have stayed with me ever since.
Some people who follow me on Instagram, including a few who might no longer consider themselves friends, have criticized my coverage of Flávio Bolsonaro and his supporters. Their argument has sometimes been that, even as a journalist, I should take sides.
August 16, 2026—Brazilian Senator and presidential candidate FLAVIO BOLSONARO launched his 2026 presidential campaign alongside his running mate, Brazilian lawmaker ALFREDO GASPAR during a rally on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is seeking the presidency in Brazil’s 2026 election. The campaign launch marks the beginning of his official bid for the presidency.
But photographing a candidate does not mean endorsing that candidate. Photographing a crowd does not mean agreeing with its message. My responsibility is to document the story honestly, including people and viewpoints with which I may personally disagree. My job is to bear witness, not produce images that confirm anyone’s political beliefs.
September 7, 2026—Brazilian presidential candidate AUGUSTO CURY is mobbed by supporters as he leads thousands in an Independence Day march along Avenida Atlântica in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cury, of the Avante party, is positioning himself as an alternative to the polarization between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro. Recent polls show Cury with as much as 11% support, placing him third ahead of Brazil's October 4 presidential election.
Having covered elections in the United States, I have found Brazil’s campaigns to be a world apart. Rallies can feel like rock concerts with songs written for candidates and tens of thousands of supporters singing and dancing together. The music, flags, movement, and sheer energy create an atmosphere that words alone cannot capture.
Brazilian musicians joined tens of thousands of supporters gather at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the Ato Musical pela Democracia (Musical Act for Democracy), a large-scale free concert featuring singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and an extensive lineup of prominent Brazilian performers. The event combines live music with political expression in a show of support for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of Brazil’s October 25 presidential runoff election, in which Lula faces challenger Flávio Bolsonaro.
One of the campaign’s most memorable moments came at Copacabana Beach, where over 50,000 supporters gathered for the Ato Musical pela Democracia (Musical Act for Democracy), a free concert featuring legendary Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and an impressive lineup of prominent performers. Combining live music with political expression, the event became a massive show of support for Lula ahead of the October 25 presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro. From the stage to the enormous crowds stretching along the beachfront, it was a vivid demonstration of how deeply music, culture and politics have been intertwined in Brazil for generations. Photographing that gathering offered a powerful reminder that, here, a political rally can be as much a cultural event as a campaign appearance.
Navigating crowds of 50,000 to more than 1 million presents challenges, but I have been struck by how often people, regardless of political affiliation, step aside to let me pass. Some even go out of their way to help me reach the position I need to work. In densely packed crowds, on extremely warms, longs days, that cooperation makes all the difference.
Me among tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters gathered on Copacabana Beach for the “Reaja Brasil” (“Brazil Reacts”) protest on Brazil’s Independence Day, September 7, 2025. The demonstration opposed former president Jair Bolsonaro’s house arrest and took place just days before a key court ruling in his legal case.
Campaigning also fills the streets. Paid workers distribute leaflets and wave banners at busy intersections, making politics part of everyday life. The energy extends to public transportation, where subway cars and stations can become impromptu rallies, with commuters chanting, singing, and dancing.
The passion is unmistakable on both sides. Political loyalties run deep, revealing how politics becomes intertwined with identity, community, and daily life.
One evening, I heard pots and pans banging outside our apartment in Ipanema. My first thought was that a soccer match had ended. Instead, it was a panelaço, a form of political protest in which residents bang pots and pans to make their voices heard. As Flávio Bolsonaro appeared in a televised interview, residents across Rio made their own statement, their noise echoing from apartment buildings into the streets.
Residents bang pots and pans and shout political slogans from apartment windows in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, during a spontaneous protest against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and in support of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Residents are making noise and shouting anti-Bolsonaro slogans from their windows. SBT News reports that similar pot-banging protests, known as panelaços, have been recorded in at least three Brazilian cities while Flávio Bolsonaro gives a television interview.
Living here has given me a perspective beyond the rallies. I am not just photographing the campaign; I am hearing it unfold outside my own window.
Then came election day and a result that stunned many observers. Despite Flávio Bolsonaro’s strong first-round performance and expectations that he would win the runoff, Lula secured reelection with 51.79 percent of the vote to Flávio’s 48.21 percent. More than four million votes separated them. Lula won an unprecedented fourth presidential term, interrupting a broader regional shift toward conservative leadership.
October 4, 2026—A Comlurb city sanitation worker sweeps up campaign stickers and pamphlets as voters wait in line outside Escola Municipal Marília de Dirceu, a polling place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Election Day, as millions of citizens head to the polls in the country’s closely contested 2026 general election. The presidential race between incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has dominated the campaign, with polls showing a tight contest ahead of the October 4 first round. Brazilians are also voting for governors, senators and federal and state legislators.
The outcome was a remarkable political reversal, but the numbers also revealed a deeply divided country. Nearly half of voters supported Flávio Bolsonaro and the political movement he inherited from his father. Lula’s victory does not erase those divisions or guarantee that Brazil’s democratic tensions will ease.
October 25, 2026—Supporters of Brazilian President LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA celebrate in the streets of Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, minutes after Lula was reelected president of Brazil, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro in the presidential runoff election. Celebrations erupted as supporters marked the victory, which will shape the country’s political future for years to come.
The aftermath brought another extraordinary development. Following his defeat, Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly left Brazil for the United States despite a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports and prohibiting him from leaving the country. He is under investigation in a money-laundering case and denies wrongdoing. His departure, amid the prospect of further legal consequences, raises serious questions about accountability and respect for the rule of law.
For a candidate who had sought the presidency and pledged to lead the opposition, leaving the country under these circumstances is a startling postscript to an already historic election.
As a photojournalist, I have witnessed only a fraction of this story. But the rallies, the street protests, the election-night celebrations, and the events that followed have reinforced why documenting history matters. The camera records not just the moment, but the contradictions and consequences that may become clearer with time.
Brazil has chosen its president. The harder work of governing a divided nation and protecting its democracy continues.
My role is not to determine the outcome or dictate the direction Brazil takes. It is to document the people, passions, conflicts and defining moments of this period in its history.
The best photojournalists knows how to become invisible, moving through the crowd without becoming part of the story. No sides to take, no opinions to impose, no judgments to pass. Just an open mind, an always watchful eye and a camera that speaks for itself. The photographer’s job is not to tell people what to think, but to show them what happened and let the pictures tell the story.