Lac de Gaube, Hautes-Pyrénées, France - September 1985

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Photographed with Hasselblad 500 EL/M and Carl Zeiss lenses.

For my good friend "Paquica" - Salut!

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Happy Birthday, Jorge! - January 2nd 2011

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(Giving me a serious look in the Castle of Heidelberg, Germany - November 1982)

Jorge is my eldest sun. He celebrated his 33rd anniversary last Sunday, January 2nd. That makes me realize how the years fly faster and faster...

I was lucky to be with him for a couple of hours, but I didn't manage to make this post on time. I believe that Jorge will forgive me... Like we say around here: "mais vale tarde do que nunca!"(what means something in the way of "better late than never!").

Jorge runs a company specializing in Sound, Light and Multimedia (Mainvision Media Solutions, Lda.), with the help of his girlfriend Marcia and his brother Luís.

They just got a new studio in Lisbon, so please allow me to also wish them all the luck, prosperity and success in the world.
I know that they are very, very hard workers, but some luck won't do no harm in such a competitive field...

(At home in Heidelberg - Ziegelhausen, with Rudi - December 1986)


When Jorge started growing up, I used to listen to a lot of records from singers and musicians that we can, broadly speaking, call the Woodstock Generation. One of my favourite groups (and solo singers) was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Wonderful voices backed up by meaningful words and music.

One of their songs that used to give me strength when I was assaulted by the demons of doubt, regarding my competence, or its absence, in the role of a young father, was "Teach Your Children", by Graham Nash. I kind of used the lyrics of that song as a certain psychological crutch, a kind of moral guide to lead me through the dark.

I guess that I did more or less well...

So, besides my love, respect and admiration for Jorge ("Um grande beijo de parabéns, meu filho"), I would like to remember the words of that tune, as Jorge must have been too young to recall them:

"Teach Your Children" – by Graham Nash

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by,
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

From the album “Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà Vu”, 1970
(with Dallas Taylor & Greg Reeves + Jerry Garcia, John Sebastian)

(Thanks for your song Mister Nash! I know that you are a great lover of photography too...).



Technical data:
Camera - Hasselblad 500 EL/M
Lenses - Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm and Carl Zeiss Sonnar 150mm respectively
Film - Ilford HP5 (old version)
Developer - Ilford ID-11 and Kodak D-76, both diluted 1+1
Location - Heidelberg, Germany
Date - 1982 and 1986
Scanner - Epson 4990 Photo

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Hasselblad 500 C/M - Heidelberg Altklinikum, November 1988

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Camera: Hasselblad 500 C/M
Lenses: Carl Zeiss Distagon C 4/50mm, Carl Zeiss Planar C 2.8/80mm
Yellow or Red filter
Film: Kodak T-Max 400
Developer: Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1
Location: Heidelberg, Germany
Date: 1st of November, 1988

Scanner: Epson 4990 Photo


No words today!





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Sketches of Spain - Guillena, Andalucía, España (May 15, 2010)

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At first I was possibly attracted by the quality of the light and the vividity of the women dresses, but I soon got hooked by the whole mood of this spanish marriage in the small town of Guillena, not far from Seville, in Andalucía.

By comparison, our marriages in Portugal look almost like funerals...

In Andalucía, the celebration is much more colorful and looks less formal, what I consider to be the heritage from gypsy blood and flamenco. Please correct me, if I am wrong...

In this small land of mine, we maybe don't have many reasons to dress joyful and feel glad, do we?

We are getting such a sad and dark land...

I was not invited and didn't know nobody around. In fact, I don't even remember to speak a word.

Strolling, I came upon this small church by chance. I got curious and slowly made my way towards the people, a smile here and a smile there, walking that strange line between public domain and privacy...

When I felt kind of accepted, I started mixing with the group and began to shoot a little closer and closer.

By my dirty blue jeans and casual clothing, it is hard to imagine that somebody would take me for a guest either...

I was a perfect watching stranger among a festive crowd!

That's what Leicas are good for...

All photographs:

Leica M4-2 + Summicron-M 2/35mm

Fomapan 200, developed in Kodak D-76 1+1

Scanned with Epson 4990 Photo

P.S.: I would like to remember Miles Davis and his great record "Sketches of Spain", arranged and conducted by Gil Evans, recorded in 1959 & 1960. The record opens with the magnificent piece by spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo, "Concierto de Aranjuez", composed in 1939.

If you have the chance, don't miss to listen to it!

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too much blue!

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Kiev 4a + Jupiter 8, Tri-X, D-76 1+1, Ferreira do Alentejo, 2009

too much blue - an overabundance of stars

the moon high above a complete waste

there ain't no summer breeze - can blow away the dark clouds of my hole emptiness

next time your ghost approaches me

riding on top of your high-heeled shoes

whisper gently on my ear who I am

maybe I will better understand who you are

by then I'll be going home to nowhere

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Happy birthday Luís! (18th of August)

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Not that I photograph my sons and daughter very often (I should do a lot more!), but being a photographer and the lucky father of some "wonderful kids" (I guess that I may sound pretentious to state that, but that is what I honestly think...), I possibly have a bigger chance to create some memorable images that eventually transcend the mere function of memories in one's life.

Luís in Heidelberg, Ziegelhausen, December 15th, 1986

Hasselblad 500EL/M + Carl Zeiss Sonnar 150mm

Ilford HP5, developed in Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1

Luís celebrates today his 27th birthday, and these photographs remember me of a long gone age when we lived back in Germany. Sometimes I have the feeling that an eternity has gone by...

The clock doesn't stop for no one, and the child on these lovely pictures is a mature young man today, a man that I cherish and very much admire.

Allow me to say "Happy birthday my son! I am proud of you!"

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Happy Birthday father!

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José Morais de Sousa, Coimbra - April 1980

If my father was alive today, 17th of June, he would be 88 years old.

My mother reveals that he often declared that he wanted to live until he was 84. He was lucky, that's how old he got!

He was an army officer but, on occasion, he also served in Guarda Nacional Republicana. That's where I have pictured him, in his office in Coimbra, with my Leica.

So please allow me to pay him this little tribute and say "Happy Birthday father".

Evelise Morais de Sousa, Coimbra, 6 of April 1980.

Yes, that's my mother on her 48th birthday, holding a bouquet of roses.

In reality, both photographs were presumably shot on the same day, as my parents lived inside the base (for some years I lived there too, by then I was on vacation from Germany).

Time goes by...

Both photographs were shot with my (at that time) almost-new Leica M4-2 and Summicron 50mm, on Kodak Tri-X film, developed in Kodak D-76 1+1.

You should be acquainted with that camera from former posts on this blog. As it so happens, she keeps on going strong after all these years. A good friend of mine!

Funny: she keeps on being my youngest Leica!

Wish we could all be forever young...

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The Family of Zé Preto and the Horse - Montemor-o-Novo, March 2010

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All photographs were made using a Rolleiflex SL 35 (Rollei Singapore) equiped with german made Carl Zeiss lenses, namely the Planar 1.4 / 50mm HFT and the Sonnar 2.8 / 85 mm. A Rollei yellow filter was also used with both lenses.

Fomapan 200 developed in Kodak D-76 1+1.

I would like to dedicate these modest photographs to someone that I very much respect and admire for many years: JOSEF KOUDELKA.

His book "Gitans - La Fin du Voyage" (copyright 1975 by Josef Koudelka, Delpire éditeur Paris and Aperture, Inc. New York) has been a true companion of mine since many years now, and a true source of inspiration.
I wish I could have the genius and the integrity of Mr. Koudelka's vision...

A special thank you goes also, of course, to the portrayed family!

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