The book I have choosen is not my favourite book because I do not have one. Every book I have read since childhood has taken my time and occupied its place, even if nowadays I do not recall all of them. Nevertheless, the epic poem “Paradise Lost”, by John Milton, that I hold in the excellent translation by Fernando da Costa Soares e Raul Domingos Mateus da Silva, stands out for it is a mural on which one can always be sure of finding new images, ravishing in their deep meaning.

Adam and Eve’s disobedience and fall from grace, founding narrative in the jewish-christian civilization, can be seen among a fascinating set of symbols that, as far as I am concerned, will never be completely unveiled.

O livro que escolhi não é o meu livro favorito, porque não tenho um. Todos os que li desde a infância tomaram o meu tempo e ocuparam o seu lugar, mesmo que hoje não os recorde.
No entanto, o poema épico “Paraíso Perdido”, de John Milton, que aqui trago na excelente tradução de Fernando da Costa Soares e Raul Domingos Mateus da Silva, destaca-se por ser um mural para que se pode olhar sempre na certeza de encontrar imagens novas, deslumbrantes no seu significado profundo.

A desobediência de Adão e Eva e a sua queda em desgraça, narrativa fundadora da civilização judaico-cristã, aparece rodeada de todo um fascinante conjunto de símbolos que, para mim, nunca estará integralmente desvendado.

Ana Roque – October 5, 2011

The books that most influenced me were the ones I read as a child and a young adult. They have shaped me as a person and as a citizen, and provided me with the values I live by today. Germinal is the exception. I’ve read it about two years ago, in a fabulous uncredited translation, and felt transported do the mines, I felt the filthiness, the pain, the hunger, the anger and the hatred. Zola wrote, in 1885, a photographic book, where no character is embellished. The message I got is still valid for today, maybe particularly valid for today: poverty never begets anything good or beautiful – it only begets more poverty.

Os livros que mais me influenciaram foram os que li na infância e na juventude. Foram eles que me formaram como pessoa e como cidadã, e que me transmitiram os valores por que me guio até hoje. Germinal é a exceção. Li-o há cerca de dois anos, numa fabulosa tradução não assinada, e senti-me transportada para as minas, senti a sujidade, a dor, a fome, a raiva e o ódio. Zola escreveu, em 1885, um livro fotográfico, em que não há personagens embelezadas. A mensagem que me ficou aplica-se ainda hoje, talvez especialmente hoje: a pobreza nunca gera nada de bom nem de belo – gera apenas mais pobreza.

Ana Saragoça – Sep 2, 2011

“Alice in Wonderland” is part of my childhood, adolescence and adulthood. I’ve always had a strong imagination, I dream that I shrink, I dream that I grow, and I always wanted  that everything was different from the previous day. I always wanted to fly and live in a world where nothing made sense and where there was no need to justify all my actions. Just like Alice I like to eat and drink out of curiosity, and one day I ate too many cakes and the Rabbit Hole was too small, and as I lacked magical drinks in real life I was swallowed by a larger hole and became adept at lists of Getting Things Done and. .. a responsible person. However, it is still in chaos that I find more sense. The more chaotic and meaningless scenario, the more enthusiastic I feel.

O Livro “Alice no País das Maravilhas” faz parte da minha infância, adolescência e vida adulta. Sempre tive imaginação fértil, sonho que encolho, sonho que aumento de tamanho,  e sempre quis que nada fosse igual ao dia anterior. Sempre ambicionei voar ou viver num mundo onde nada fizesse sentido e principalmente onde não necessitasse de justificar todos os meus actos. Como Alice gosto de comer e beber por curiosidade, um dia comi demasiados bolos e a Toca do Coelho foi pequena demais e à falta de bebidas mágicas na vida real fui engolida por um buraco maior e tornei-me adepta de listas, de Getting Things Done e… responsável. No entanto, ainda é no caos que me oriento melhor. Quanto mais caótico e sem sentido o cenário, mais entusiasmada me sinto.

Patrícia Rosa – Jul 26, 2011

Bhagavad-Gita is a book that accompanies me since the days of college, namely from classes and lectures by Professor Carlos Silva. This is not an academic text. It is a piece of life. Of many lives. A spiritual journey, told in dialogue, through parables. The being takes the form of poetry and truth flows from its pages. This book marks my life, and I resort to it time and time again, to read and re-read. And I always carry with me some of its words as if they were carved in my skin. And indeed they are.

“So, you must always perform, without attachment, the action consistent with your own karma, because by performing action without attachment man actually reaches the Supreme Being.”

[3rd lesson, 19]

O Poema do Senhor | Bhagavad-Gitá é um livro que me acompanha desde os tempos da faculdade, nomeadamente das aulas e das conferências do professor Carlos Silva.Não  é um texto académico. É um texto de vida. De muitas vidas. Uma caminhada espiritual, contada em diálogo, através de parábolas. O ser assume a forma de poesia e a verdade escorre naquelas páginas.É um livro que marca a minha vida, ao qual recorro inúmeras vezes, para ler e re-ler. E trago sempre comigo algumas das suas palavras, como se estivessem cravadas na minha pele. E efectivamente, estão.

“Portanto, tu realiza sempre, sem apego, a acção d’harmonia com teu próprio karma, porque, ao realizar a acção sem apego, o homem, na verdade, alcança o Ser Supremo.”
[3ª lição, 19]

Joana Sousa – June 22, 2011

This book is about love or the lack of it in life.
All kinds of love, self love, love of family, love of neighbor.
I was impressed by the detachment and the growing unhappiness.
It takes place in India, London and Mozambique, and tells the story of a father and a son, of their evolution  and growth as people who do not identify with the cultural heritage of their roots.

Este livro fala de amor ou da ausência dele na vida.De todo o tipo de amor, amor próprio, amor pela família, amor ao próximo. Impressionou-me o desapego e o cultivar da infelicidade. Passa-se na Índia, Londres e Moçambique, conta a história de pai e filho da sua evolução e crescimento como pessoas, que não se identificam com a herança cultural das suas raízes.

Célia Ventura - Jun 16, 2011

Sara Bettencourt - Photo Mário Pires

On the previous post, i talked about the genesis of this portrait series, but after the general theme i needed to narrow it down further, and decide who to photograph and where to find them.
The gender issue was clear to me, i’ve always loved photos of woman smoking, so that choice was easy. But i needed a way to find woman willing to smoke in front of the iPhone4 camera. Asking random woman on the street is not something i’m confortable in doing, i needed a different approach. Then i remembered that i already followed some woman that smoke on twitter, and figured that i could tweet them an invitation to pose. At this point i already made 4 portrait sessions, so this method turned out to be a good choice.

Sandra Gaspar / Photo: Mário Pires

Having left my Lumix in the closet, and relaying almost exclusively on the iPhone for all my photo needs, i wanted to put myself and the iPhone to the test. Thinking about possible challenges, i remembered that i never did a portrait session.
Portraits are a bit vague, how could i make a series that makes some sense and it’s within my reach ?
I also wanted to draw some attention to it, so it would need a element of defiance. I remembered some talks i had with fellow photographers about wonderful portraits of women smoking. Smoking has gained a rather negative aura in recent times, and because of it the defiance element would be smoke.
Having established portraits of people smoking as the main theme, i needed to narrow it down a bit in order to establish some logistics that i could master for some time.

• Where to find people to photograph ?
• How to ask them ?
• Which gender and age ?

Those questions will be answered in the next post

O.D. series - Photo: Mário Pires

P. series - Photo: Mário Pires

Subway series - Photo: Mário Pires

B.C. series - Photo: Mário Pires

I always think of series, regardless of the imaging device i’m using. From the moment i surpassed an “amateur” mindset and started to think about the concept of a “series”, i’ve never been able to work differently. Even when i’m not consciously thinking about it, after some time, a series emerges and i can’t help but notice and pursue it.
These photos are from series i’m developing now, all produced with the iPhone4 (the subway series has some photos that where shot with a Nokia device, but edited on iOS devices).

Palm tree, Photo: Mário Pires

In January 2010 i made a list of photo projects i wanted to develop in 2010, a year later it’s time to access the status of those.

Chiado Project

The “7 Visões no Chiado” project was successfully completed, It was shown in Lisboa, Vila Nova de Paiva and Coimbra (more dates coming soon). I made a series of blog posts about it. I wish to take it to Porto and back to Lisbon before the end of the year.

Prazeres Graveyard

I did three sessions on this project, and was unable to advance it further. But after i had Brenda Turnnidge review the work, i lost some doubts i had about the focus of the work. I expect to be able to schedule some more sessions in the spring.

MobileOne

I started this series with Nokia mobile phones, then i added a iPod Touch and iOS photo apps, and then the iPhone4. it’s no longer a series, it’s body of work that grows everyday! The iPhone is constatly with me and i haven’t used the Lumix in months. The camera is good enough and all the photo applications that i can mix and match give me endless creative opportunities. We can be mobile artists with nothing but this small device!

“T” Project

Postponed. Without a couple that knows how to T, it can’t be done right.

4 Cars…

I finished photographing for the project and then got some doubts about the whole series. It’s sleeping in the archives until i pick it up again and start editing it into the final form.

And for 2011 ?

Publishing some POD books is my goal, hope i can pull it off.

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.