White Copa Football t-shirt with a picture of a 'soccer field' on a mountain slope with the houses in a slum in the background. The photo From Above was made by Renato Stockler and comes from the photo collection 'Ground From Above' with the theme Terrão de Cima. The photos were taken with a helicopter in the suburbs of Sao Paulo, one of the most densely populated areas of South America.
A terrao is an oasis in the urban landscape. The reddish ground of the soccer field turns into a stage of resistance for the popular sport of soccer. These fields are increasingly rare to see due to real estate and occupation of the land. The pieces of land are still there because of the resilience of man and the love for the sport. Some fields belong to a football club, others are public places. They are mainly dirty, consist of sand or remnants of weathered grass. But they are all an outlet for the people who live in the suburbs of the city of Sao Paulo. These places show the urgency to practice sports and improve life in a city like Sao Paulo. These fields are a solid base and show the strength of football in Brazil. A powerful sight of the colored field against the gray color of the slums. It's not hard to see friends, family, adults and children together cheering for their local teams. Far from the social and political problems, a 'terrao' shows the real football. The rawness of a 'terrao' cannot be mounted as a media spectacle.