Christopher Hubbard, The Spirit of Samba (PEOPLE 2024)

One of the highights of my life was getting to experience Carnival live in Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nothing can quite prepare you for the sheer scale of it all as your senses are quickly overwhelmed by music, dancing and passion... something you must experience at least once in your life. As a photographer the possibilities here are only limited to your imagination. With the aid of a slow shutter I aimed to convey the movement, flow and energy of the passionate performers as the danced to the pulsating rhythm of the samba drums in an attempt to make the audience feel like they are there in person dancing on the sidelines. Despite the image being stripped of all it's colour I love how the capes of the dancers still glisten with the dancers themselves almost taking on a ghost like appearance....the spirits of samba.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.