Scenes from World Cup 2014 opening day

Digirame wrote:

I enjoyed seeing your photos. At times you got close to the people, which made them good. I saw one sign where he was protesting the lack of health and education. Were there other things that they were protesting?

The biggest complaint was not so much the lack of health and education, but the lack of health and education at the cost of the World Cup. Spending billions in public funds for private interests is especially galling when there are so many things that could use this money.

As to getting close, the biggest issues regarding the protesters and police of course is the serious risk factor. Those gas masks weren't for show, and other cities saw vandalism and acts of destruction by protesters. While willing to take a calculated risk, there is no reward in it for me, meaning I am not linked to a news vehicle or other. Finally, my lens is only a 17-50 (28-80 equivalent).

I will be betraying my beloved T4i in a few months though and moving to a 6D with some better reaching lenses. I do have many more protester pics though. I'll see if I cannot dig up a few. My guess is the next protests will coincide with Brazil's next game on Tuesday. They get the biggest audience that way. Every day that Brazil plays is a national holiday. Officially. And I am not kidding. Banks are closed, shops are closed, and government agencies are closed (including the courts).