Photo marathon brings a little Brazil to Canada

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - For Brazilian expatriates Lalo Porto and Everton Souza, the Toronto Photography Marathon is a little bit of home, with a Canadian twist.

On Saturday, dozens of budding photographers will gather in Toronto armed with their non-digital cameras, ready for a 24-hour race.

"My friend Everton Souza is from Florianopolis, Brazil ... and they have the Maratona Fotografica de Florianopolis. It's a huge city-wide event," said event organizer Lalo Porto, a resident of Toronto for nearly 16 years. "He said, 'Let's try this in Toronto'."

Every year, the south Brazilian island city of Florianopolis becomes the gathering place for hundreds of photographers, racing over two days to capture images that reflect themes broadcast over the radio every few hours. Winners share thousands of dollars in prizes.

Porto and Souza adapted the concept to take advantage of the four seasons in Canada by running the event every nine months.

According to their Web site, www.torontophotomarathon.com, the idea is to "react to a concept and improvise with film."

The aim is to gather photographers of all skill levels everywhere, and to encourage and strengthen photographic art within the community.

The photographers are given a single roll of 12-exposure, color film and a card with 12 themes. They can only take -- in sequence -- one picture per theme.

It has grown from a "really, really do-it-yourself kind of thing" with 35 participants during the first marathon in October 2004, said Porto. Now in its 5th run, the event averages 100 people.

An exhibit of all photographs will be held at a local gallery on November 10, where visitors will vote for the winning images.