‘People say my images look like a dream’ : Zal Riani’s best phone picture

Zal Riani calls himself a shadow hunter. The Brazilian photographer lives in Rio de Janeiro, and likes to take a walk along Ipanema beach to relax after work.

He says: “I love the light at the end of day, and the shadows that appear when the sun is leaving. Whenever I go out to take photos in the late afternoon it’s because I’m looking for the longest shadows I can find.”

On the beach, you come across groups playing altinha, a Brazilian version of keepy-uppy. “You don’t let the ball fall, and keep it up high, without using your hands, but in the most beautiful way possible,” he says.

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The exchange rate in Brazil prohibits Riani from upgrading his iPhone 6s Plus to a newer model, but he perseveres. “On the 6s Plus, shooting at night is impossible, but I can still make interesting images in the day,” he says.

Editing is a point of pride for Riani: “My professional background is in the creative side of advertising, so tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator are essential to my creative process. I deconstructed this entire photo and cut out the major elements, including Morro Dois Irmãos, the two mountains in the background. Then I worked on the background and remade the image, leaving only the elements that interested me. This was the resulting image.

“Some people think I use AI, but everything is manual, pixel by pixel,” he adds. “What makes me happiest is when people say my images look like a dream.”