One Too Many!

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I am more and more impressed by the extraordinary and ever growing number of artists that grace our Kunstwelt!

Yes, I stumble upon all kinds: arrogant, complex, downtrodden, eccentric, fat, frustrated, genuine, humble, ignorant, ill, immature, inhibited, inventive, old, oppressed, poor, privileged, repressed, rich, simple, slim, starving, successful, swollen, talented, tall, tyrannized, weak, wealthy, young...

With a little imagination and perseverance, it would be easy to make the list go on and on...

I don't even need to look too hard, to see also some outstanding artists that deserve admiration and recognition, creators that should be respected. Well, some even get it!

How I wish that I could be one of those... But how I fear that I could be just that one too many...

That's why, confronted with heaven and hell, I rather prefer to try to be a good photographer than a bad artist...

Yes, I rather be the devil!

(Both photographs made with Rolleiflex 3.5F and Agfa APX 100 in Lisbon, Terreiro do Paço, 1998.

Sculptures by Fernando Botero).

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"Unglaubliche Geschichte um die Ecke", Pau, France, 1986 (Rolleiflex 3.5 F)

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Many years ago, the good Lord might remember when (I had to look up...), I was travelling in the company of my good old friend Fred, on our way from Portugal to Germany (or was it the other way?).

After crossing the Pyrenees, we spent a couple of days in Pau, staying at another close friend's home. Pakica (Francisco is his real name) used to live at that time in this nice and friendly town.
Because of our geographical distance, we always had so much to remember about the months we had been apart, living our far away lives, fighting our separate struggles and savouring our separate short happy moments.

"Störung"

"Aufatmung"

"Sonnenlust"

"Erholung"

"Lust zum Wegfahren"

You might have noticed that I titled this minuscule photographic sequence in german language. That's how I called it by then. I will try to shed some light on the subject...

The main tittle means something like "Unbelievable Story Down the Corner"...

Actually, there was something surrealistic about the whole situation: me and Fred just walked randomly in the neighborhood killing time and putting our legs to some work.
I had brought the Rolleiflex with me and I occasionally made an exposure of some scene that I thought might be worthy of some visual interest. It all flew rather calm and relaxed, unstressed...

All of a sudden a car stops by and an older man jumps out, asking very nervously what we were doing. In our rusty french, we tried to explain that we were just doing nothing special, strolling around visiting town.
The good old man was not satisfied with our modest explanations and kept making more and more absurd questions. When he ultimately asked what "race" did we belong, we decided to completely ignore him and kept our way, doing as before.

He then drove rageful and paranoid, mumbling something about police and other stupidities.
Every few minutes he kept driving by, threatening und cursing us.

He even picked up a camera and started photographing us! From far away, from the security of his car...
We couldn't keep from laughing and finally felt some kind of pity on him.

Poor mad man... He had so much demons to live with...

I would like to emphasise that all this happened long before the ghost of terrorism, before September 11th and all this kind of sordid occurences.
I am talking about a peaceful sunny afternoon in an european town free of conflict, with two pacific young people enjoying the tranquil quiteness of some sleepy streets.

What brings me to the point of saying that "the moral of the story, the moral of this song, is simply that one should never be where one does not belong.
So when you see your neighbor carrying something, help him with his load, and don't go mistaking Paradise for that home across the road".

And yes, I was paraphrasing Bob Dylan in his song "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest", from the album "John Wesley Harding", from 1968.

For the photo freaks: all images were shot on the 14th of August 1986, using a Rolleiflex 3.5 F, loaded with Kodak Tri-x film, developed in Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1.
The images shown here were scanned from original silverprints (printed by me), using an Epson 4990 Photo.

Rolleiflex 3.5 F - Monsaraz, Alentejo, 7th of July 2009

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I have been travelling to Monsaraz, and photographing there, for many years now.
It is a small village in the south of Portugal, with a castle on top of the hill, overlooking the surrounding valley.
A couple of years ago, the construction of Barragem do Alqueva made a dramatic change in the landscape. Where once was dry land, the waters now reflect the deepness of the blue sky.

Without wishing to dig further into ecological arguing and considerations, I must be tempted to ask myself: "for what so much blue?".

I can foresee the tourist resorts and the golf courses popping up here and there, and I can even envision the big cash flowing in some big scale agricultural projects; but not in the pockets of the few old people remaining in the region, the ones who have been there for ages. They will keep living in poverty, as they always did, forever forgotten and misused.

I hope that I will be proved wrong...

Some twenty or so years ago, you still could watch authentic life in Monsaraz. At the end of the day, the farmers would bring their mules and donkeys to drink by the fountain, the women would sit by the door knitting and chatting.
You still could hear children playing and laughing.

Twenty years ago, you could still feel the pulse of Monsaraz.

Now Monsaraz is an open museum, meaning that besides a couple of souvenir shops and some restaurants, there is very little life to be found there on a day-to-day basis. In the evening, the shop owners go live their lives somewhere else.

I have the consolation of so much beauty...

All photographs shot with a Rolleiflex 3.5F, with Carl Zeiss Planar f/3.5 75mm.
Kodak TX, developed in Agfa Rodinal, dil. 1+50.

And that is how we started the "session", refreshing ourselves with a cool glass of beer, gazing at the marvelous sight of the valley below...

If you got some curiosity about Monsaraz, you can take a look at some more (color) photographs by Helena, posted on her Digitalis Kitsch Blog, under "Kitsch Promenades".
You find the link on the right.

Hope that you enjoy, and have a good weekend.

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I am ashamed

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On the 25th of April, Portugal will celebrate thirty five years of democracy.

So they say...

On that April morning, young army officers finally put an end to Salazar's dictatorship.

A new era had began...

But the dream of equality, fraternity and mutual respect has long faded away.

We now have to deal with lies, greed and corruption.

We lost our dignity.

For some months now, almost everyone who crosses the door of my studio is struggling for surviving: they beg for something, or try to sell something.

I wish that I could give them a helping hand, but I struggle too.

The clients are long gone, the telephone seldom rings...

I am ashamed of beeing part of this society!

Each day I have a little faith...

Dear Landlord

Please don't put a price on my soul

My burden is heavy

My dreams are beyond control


When that steamboat whistle blows

I'm gonna give you all I got to give

And I do hope you receive it well

Dependin' on the way you feel that you live


Dear Landlord

Please hear these words that I speak

I know you've suffered much

But in this you are not so unique


All of us at times we might work too hard

To have it too fast and too much

And anyone can fill his life up with things

He can see but he just cannot touch


Dear Landlord

Please don't dismiss my case

I'm not about to argue

I'm not about to move to no other place


Now, each of us has his own special gift

And you know this was meant to be true

And if you don't underestimate me

I won't underestimate you.


Bob Dylan, "Dear Landlord"

(from the album "John Wesley Harding", 1967)

Some information about the photographs: the hand was pictured in Mannheim, Germany, September 1986.
I shot with a Rolleiflex 3.5 F equiped with a Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm lens, and loaded with Kodak Plus-X, developed in Kodak Microdol-X, 1+3.

My portrait was shot February 2009, and is courtesy of Helena Roque.

I happen to have on my neck the Rolleiflex that made the image above, and a Leica M5 with 50mm Summicron lens.

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