... and in the end...

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The End (Lennon/McCartney)

Oh yeah, all right
Are you going to be in my dreams
Tonight?

...And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make.

From the record "Abbey Road" - The Beatles (1969)



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Assorted Moments - Sinar F2 (1988 - 90)

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Looking through my archive, I came upon a little box with several 9x12 cm / 4x5 inches negatives. Most of them unidentified: no date, no location...

I believe that they must habe been made in the last two years, or so, that I lived in Germany, prior to my return to Portugal in 1990.

In those times I was enthusiastic enough to travel with a Sinar camera and a couple of Schneider lenses...

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Mannheim, Germany



Near Mannheim, Germany
(can you see the Christmas tree?)



Carrasqueira, Rio Sado, Portugal



Carrasqueira, Rio Sado, Portugal



El Burgo de Osma, España

Guimarães, Portugal

Alentejo, Portugal

Alentejo, Portugal



Because (Lennon/McCartney)

Because the world is round it turns me on
Because the world is round...

Because the wind is high it blows my mind
Because the wind is high......

Love is all, love is new
Love is all, love is you

Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue.......

From the record “Abbey Road” – The Beatles (1969)

Wish you all a good time!

Monsaraz, Portugal - Hasselblad 500 EL/M + Sinar F2 (1984, 1988?)

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It is rather evident: when I made the trip to Monsaraz in August 1984, I was using the Carl Zeiss Sonnar-C 150mm.
I can see it by the number of images that display that short-tele feeling, that little compression that fits so well some photographs (at least my little me likes it!).
I cannot say for sure, so many films and years have gone by, but it is imaginable that I was eager to try my new spielzeug...

To photograph Monsaraz in August can be a pain. The light is very strong, and the heat can simply knock you off!
I tried to do it last Summer and I couldn't make my feet move! I should maybe clarify that I was striving to produce some 5x7 inches negatives with the Gandolfi...

Shamelessly, I was reminded that my endurance is not bound to eternity!

Twenty six years before, things seemed a little easier though...

You will notice that some pictures are not square. As a matter of fact I found some Large Format (9x12cm/4x5 inches negatives - no location, no date...)that I know were shot with the Sinar camera.
Why I know it was the Sinar? Easy: it was the only one by then...

I believe that they must have been shot in, or around, 1988.
Why I didn't take notes? What the heck do I know? Laziness, sloppiness, second-choice negatives?
Too many questions that I don't remenber the answers, please don't demand so much...

Now you know that I am also far from perfect... You are not alone at that!

Some negatives are far from optimal. So I am glad that I don't need to retouch with brush and Spotone dyes, as I would have to if I was displaying true darkroom prints...

Maybe the film just got cooked by the hot summer heat...

On those days, Monsaraz still had some real life. The times of the "Open Museum" were still to come. The population, even though old, was still alive.

If this topic should deserve your attention, please just click on the tag bellow, I shouldn't repeat myself.

Thanks for watching! I am glad to share!

Technical data:
Cameras - Hasselblad 500 EL/M (square images) + Sinar F2
Lenses - Carl Zeiss Planar-C 80mm f/2.8 + Carl Zeiss Sonnar-C 150 f/4 (for the Hassy)
Schneider Symmar-S 210 f/5.6 + Schneider Super Angulon 90mm f/8 (for the Sinar)
Film - Kodak
Developer - Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1
Location - Monsaraz, Alentejo, Portugal
Date - August 1984 for the square images.
Rectangular ones not dated, probably 1988.
Scanner - Epson Photo 4990



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Álvaro Siza, Terraços de Bragança, Lisboa, 2005 - Wasted Project (1)

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This could have been a beautiful White & Blue book, about a beautiful architectural project in Lisbon downtown by Álvaro Siza. Mr. Siza was kind enough, as always, to guarantee all his collaboration, but somehow the book never came to life.

Feeling pity that it remains wasted, I don't want it to be a completely lost project, so I let you enjoy the photographs, while it's publication keeps on waiting for a better opportunity.

Film cameras were used exclusively on the documentation shown above:

- Sinar F2, with Rodenstock and Schneider lenses, for 4x5" and 6x12 (Horseman back);
- Horseman SW612 Pro, with Rodenstock lenses, for 6x12.

- Corfield WA67, Schneider Super-Angulon 47mm, for 6x7.

- Hasselblad 500 C/M, with Carl Zeiss lenses, for 6x6.

Light meter and color meter by Gossen.

Film by Kodak.

Tripods by Gitzo and Manfrotto.

Transparencies and b&w negatives scanned with Epson Perfection 4990.

Assistance by Luís Morais de Sousa, my son.

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Raúl Lino - "Casa do Cipreste", Sintra, Portugal (1993)

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Working on assignment for Editorial Blau, I came to know this absolutely wonderful project from 1912, in the small town of Sintra.

This is actually one of the houses that Raúl Lino (1879 - 1974) built for himself, and is known as the "Casa do Cipreste", a true icon of the portuguese architecture (maybe I should say "in Portugal" instead... In fact, I think that it looks more german than portuguese, what is natural, thinking that Lino studied in Germany).

Being considered by some to be a controversial personality in our 20th century cultural life, Raúl Lino cannot be ignored for sure. His importance and influence still lasts until today.

"Casa do Cipreste" is definitely a magic place full of charm and warmth, a place of outstanding beauty and harmony.

A place that I would undoubtedly love to call home!

The rectangular images were shot using a Sinar F2 camera in 9x12 cm/4x5 inches, equiped with various lenses manufactured by Schneider in Germany.

The square photographs were shot with a Hasselblad camera in 6x6, using Carl Zeiss lenses (Distagon, Planar and Sonnar types), also made in Germany.

Lighting equipment was made by Hensel in Würzburg, Germany.

Light meters by Sekonic and Minolta.

Ektachrome film by Kodak.

I would like to dedicate this post to the architect Luiz Trigueiros from Editorial Blau, a person to whom I owe a lot in personal and professional terms. He was the one who brought me to professional architectural photography, when I returned home from Germany in 1990. After some small misunderstandings that lasted for some time, we are now on good terms, and I was happy to see him and his wife again.

P.S.: Raúl Lino also designed in 1925 Teatro Curvo Semedo in Montemor-o-Novo, wich you might know from some other posts that I have done.

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