António Colaço from the blog Ânimo did a short interview about the “7 visões do Chiado” exhibition (in portuguese).

António Colaço do blog Ânimo entrevistou-me acerca da exposição “7 Visões no Chiado”. A ele o meu obrigado.

Visão 3 - Poeta Chiado

Texto de Apresentação da Exposição “7 Visões no Chiado“

O Chiado é uma das zonas mais emblemática de Lisboa. Há muito que está presente nas letras portuguesas e faz parte dos hábitos da capital. Muitos dos seus ex-libris são igualmente lugares comuns fotográficos.

Ao aceitar o desafio de fotografar o Chiado, apenas tinha a certeza de que não queria caminhar por trilhos já demasiado pisados. Não tendo pretensões a originalidade, escolhi tratar o tema de modo a reflectir sobre as dúvidas que sinto em relação ao papel da fotografia como “descritora” da realidade e às falhas desse modelo.

Porquê escolher um único ponto de vista quando podemos ter vários ? Acredito que um dos papéis da arte é o de mostrar que a realidade tem muitos sentidos, muitos mais do que aqueles que os sentidos nos revelam. Espero apenas contribuir para que possam descobrir maneiras diferentes de olhar o Chiado.

Página do Facebook

“7 Visões no Chiado” Presentation

Chiado is one of the most enjoyable places in Lisbon, it has been like that for centuries, and it’s most memorable spots are also the more photographed.

When i accepted the challenge of photographing the theme, i was sure that i did not want to travel the same roads as everybody else. I didn’t tried to be “original”, i just wanted to reflect the doubts i have about the role of photography as a rendering of reality.

Why choose just one point of view when we can have multiple ones ? I believe that one of the roles of art is to show us that reality has more to offer us than what the senses tell us.

Facebook Page

Visão 4 - O eléctrico vermelho

A exposição está oficialmente inaugurada!

The show is open!

After 3 photo sessions, i found myself with hundreds of photos and a short time to edit the whole thing into 7 photos that could satisfy my urge for achieving the absolute best photos i could create.
I had to organize each file with layers, and groups, so that editing could not turn into a nightmare. In terms of photoshop workflow it only involved moving, scaling and rotating the images on the different layers. Every move i made on each layer would affect the overall composition, so the final photos took a long time before it reached the form you can see on the walls.
The files where between 1,3GB and 3,5 GB, hopefully my iMac was able to cope with these files without failing. After the work was done, i resized to the final dimensions, flattened layers and send the files to the printer.

Esta sexta-feira vai decorrer a inauguração da minha exposição “7 Visões no Chiado” e quero aqui fazer o convite a todos os leitores deste blog a estarem presentes.

Local: LiberOffice Chiado, Largo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, Nº 16 – Lisboa

Horário da inauguração: Sexta-feira, 26 de Fevereiro de 2010 às 18:30

Facebook: Página do evento

Deixo-vos com o texto de apresentação da exposição:

O Chiado é uma das zonas mais emblemática de Lisboa. Há muito que está presente nas letras portuguesas e faz parte dos hábitos da capital. Muitos dos seus ex-libris são igualmente lugares comuns fotográficos.

Ao aceitar o desafio de fotografar o Chiado, apenas tinha a certeza de que não queria caminhar por trilhos já demasiado pisados. Não tendo pretensões a originalidade, escolhi tratar o tema de modo a reflectir sobre as dúvidas que sinto em relação ao papel da fotografia como “descritora” da realidade e às falhas desse modelo.

Porquê escolher um único ponto de vista quando podemos ter vários ? Acredito que um dos papéis da arte é o de mostrar que a realidade tem muitos sentidos, muitos mais do que aqueles que os sentidos nos revelam. Espero apenas contribuir para que possam descobrir maneiras diferentes de olhar o Chiado.

Até sexta.

Now that the tools are chosen it was time to go out, decide on the subjects and start the actual shooting. On the day of the scouting with the mobile phone i had already chosen 9 possible ones, but i was unsure of the outcome of some, due to the fact that the pictures could only work if i could photograph it from several angles. While i was walking around i made some films to document the places and help me decide.
Next will come the actual photo sessions.

In the first post of the series i talked about the theme and the final output of the project. But what tools should i use to photograph it?

Should i use a DSLR like the Nikon D2x and a varied assortment of lenses ?

Nikon D2x

This is the set up that could give the more flexibility and image quality, what are the disadvantages?
Weight is surely one, carrying a bag and having to change lenses impairs the mobility and can prevent the concentration that i find necessary.

So on the opposite pole i could use a mobile phone with a 3 mpixel camera.

Nokia N73

I would have no weight problem and also no problem in deciding the focal range to use (i would use the lens without any digital zoom). But i was unsure about the quality of the sensor and it’s ability to resolve enough detail so that the final print would look the way i intended.
So i did a test shoot on location to evaluate the lens and sensor. The details were muddy and the color shift between photos taken just seconds apart convinced me to drop this option.

I also have a compact camera, a Nikon Coolpix 885, but it’s a 3 mpixel camera with 8 years that has a very limited zoom range, so it’s not really a option.
But i was not feeling comfortable with the first option, so i was in the market for a new compact camera, one with a good sensor, a generous zoom range and a budget not exceding 250 euros. Is there such a thing ?
Fortunately there is, the Panasonic Lumix TZ6.

Panasonic Lumix TZ6

So, after the tools are chosen it’s time to start photographing.

I was invited to premiere a new art space in Lisbon
The exhibition has a tight schedule, and i am going to be build it from scratch, i thought it could be a good idea to document the whle project.
The venue will be LiberOffice in the Chiado district of Lisbon, and the theme will be Chiado himself.

How to approach it ? It’s a widely know place with centuries of history and some over-photographed landmarks, so it will be a challenge to come up with something worth looking at.

Hockney on Art - David Hockney

When i was told in the first meeting what the theme was, the way to approach it quickly formed in my mind. And i have to thank David Hockey for it. I am currently reading his book “Hockney on Art” where he discusses among other thing the artificiality of one point perspective, and what he perceived as the inability of photography to overcome this. All his photo work was made in a attempt to fight against that, and then he applied what he had learned to his painted works.

Hockeny on Art

Ever since his Polaroid collages he was trying to get away from one point perspective, bringing cubism to photography.

Hockney on Art

But only with “pearblossom highway” he felt that he had gone as far as possible with photography and expansion of perspective.

Hockney on art

So, the theoretical base for my work his here, on the next post in the series i will discuss, the tools i will use, and the reasoning behind.