Sunday 7 October 2012

Lisbon Story




Thinking about details and ways of seeing, I remembered a trip to Lisbon a few years ago and delved into my computer's memory for these pictures...


The old part of the city has been protected from the kind of rapid 'improvement' seen in other European cities by convoluted property laws. No, I can't remember the details. Some buildings are undoubtedly in need of repair, but others have amazing tiles and other decorative touches...




Blue sky authentic, no photoshopping required!



One of my favourite films is 'Lisbon Story' by Wim Wenders, which is all about a sound engineer collecting sounds around Lisbon. This makes me think of the featured band, Madredeus...


The sound man picks up all manner of delightful sonic details. Here's a nice visual...


Could be south Bristol (we even have palm trees) - felt right at home...


Except we don't have tiles like these...


Or buildings like this - wow!


Finally... I think Ravilious might have enjoyed this one, and maybe put it in his Lisbon version of 'High Street'. The place may well be gone by now...



2 comments:

Jane Housham said...

Beautiful photos -- you've really made me want to go there (I already wanted to go, but now I feel like doing something about it).

Anonymous said...

Such a brilliantly visual city, isn't it! The care that goes into making street signs out of 20-odd individually made tiles... fantastic place!

http://artmanphotos.blogspot.fi/#!/2012/04/lisbon-part-one.html

http://artmanphotos.blogspot.fi/#!/2012/04/lisbon-part-deux.html