Redeemer

Few cities can boast such an iconic setting as Rio de Janeiro, in southern Brazil. Portuguese settlers first saw Guanabara Bay on New Year’s Day 1502 (hence the “January River”) and over 500 years later a sprawling metropolis of 6m inhabitants nestles impossibly between the rainforested hills, beaches and bornhardts of Brazil’s Atlantic coast. Its most famous landmark is the 98ft Christ the Redeemer statue, an Art Deco masterpiece which has watched over the city from atop the Corcovado mountain since 1931. This aerial photograph shows Rio’s protector welcoming in the new day; “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”.