Welcome to Pinheiros, the Hippest and Fastest-Changing Neighbourhood in Sao Paulo

Truly bohemian and a little bit grungy, Pinheiros is a honeypot for artists, writers and hipsters.

a photo essay by Fernando Cohen

Sandwiched between the tree-lined Sao Paulo neighborhoods of Vila Madalena and Jardins, Pinheiros has a rich, multicultural feel where luxury real estate, posh galleries, and ethnic gastropubs coexist with graffiti-walled dive bars, grungy bus terminals, and whore houses.

When Fernando Cohen moved to Pinheiros in 2013, he had no idea that he was beginning a years-long art project documenting the intimacy and cultural diversity of his neighborhood and the eclectic residents who inhabit it.

The subjects that populate his project are often hidden in shadows or outlined in silhouette, sitting, standing or moving across colorful backdrops — a painted concrete wall here, a sheet metal storefront there.

For Cohen, as Cartier-Bresson once said, photography is a “way of shouting, of freeing oneself … not of proving or asserting one’s own originality. It is a way of life.”

Cohen has been taking photos since he was a boy.

“I can vividly recall the first pictures I took in my life when I was six,” says Cohen. “I was on the beach using a Kodak Instamatic while my father taught me how to frame a shot being careful to not cut off peoples heads all the while making sure the sun was behind me.”

Now a father, a Portuguese teacher and a textbook editor, Cohen doesn’t follow a traditional playbook. His photographs are unmanipulated scenes — intimate, impartial mirrors of a small portion of Pinheiros frozen in transition. Perhaps this series is even a glimpse into the future?

Cohen has captured hundreds of photos and hopes to complete Pinheiros by next year, when he wants to exhibit the photos and publish a book.

Fernando Cohen is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil and frequently shoots with the Ricoh GR. Fernando is a founding member of ELEPHANT GUN, a global photography collective. Follow Fernando on Instagram