Dark Brasília: Photographer captures the dark side to Brazil's modernist capital city

Brasília – the capital of Brazil – is renowned the world over for being a planned city distinguished by its white, modernist architecture.

All images courtesy of Øystein Aspelund

All images courtesy of Øystein Aspelund

Put together by urban planner Lucio Costa in 1956, with many of its futuristic buildings designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, every single element was intended to work in harmony with one another. Today, it's a World Heritage Site and is still considered to be a landmark in the history of town planning.

With liberal use of concrete, unexpected curves, geometric angles and huge-scale buildings at every turn, you can imagine it's a photographer's dream to visit the city and capture its unusual architecture. That's exactly what Norway-based photographer Øystein Aspelund recently did, but he certainly raised the bar on shooting this incredible metropolis.

His resulting portraits of Brasília's famous white buildings are a wonderful play on light. The darkness that looms in every shot only accentuates the grand nature of each structure, as they emerge from the shadows like some alien being.

All with a minimalist approach, each image perfectly highlights the modernism of Brazil's capital. We're not sure anyone can match the depth and brilliance of this perfect series. Discover more at oysteinaspelund.com.

Share

Get the best of Creative Boom delivered to your inbox weekly