Loneliness (Salamanca Exhibition 17, 18, 19)

See the person sitting with their legs crossed smoking a cigarette? The one with a hoody? Boy or girl? Boy or girl? Can you guess?

This one is in downtown Lisbon, to the left of where I was standing when I took this one. One the wall there are some writting with the translations into several languages of the sentence "Lisboa, Cidade da Tolerância" - Lisbon, City of Tolerance. The English one is right under the Portuguese one, in the middle, also close to the Spanish one. As it so happened, someone wasn't very tolerant - the first letters of the Portuguese word 'Tolerance' as graffited over.

I took this picture at the entrance of a boat terminal in Lisbon, where people take the boat to cross the river. It was pretty much 'snap and run', because the security guard had already told me twice that I could not take any pitures. This is (luky) photo number 13.

Lord of the Rings

What is the best this about the Lord of the Rings trilogy?

a ) all the easily spotted mistakes

b ) the detail of the production

c ) the Orcs

d ) Legolas and Aragorn

e ) this.

A foggy day in Lisbon town (aka Salamanca Exhibiton photos 14, 15, 16)

These are all pictures of the same place: Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square, literally translated) in Lisbon.

Crazy homeless man who cursed at me and threatened me to leave.

I find this photo to be very artistic. Almost magic. The person walking in the background, the fog/humidity, the lamp posts...

This picture is very grainy, due to humidity. I took this one around January 2008 when I was going home. I was standing on a bench and someone took a picture of me taking the picture. If you see a cray girl on a bench during a day/night with a lot of humidity, the chnaces are that it is me.

Salmanca Exhibition # 11, 12, 13

I am now realising that my photos - or at least most of them - have two things in common:

- I am never there on purporse taking the pictures. I usually am on my way somewhere else and just so happen to take a picture of something I thought was interesting (for these, I was on my way to the supermarket (1st photo), on my way home (2nd) and on my ay to a local market (3rd)).

- Only when I get home do I notice that I took an interesting photos. This applies to most of my good photos, but not only.

These three pictures, to me, are all about the contrast, whether in shadows or black and white bouldness.

I took this one in Rossio, a large square in downtown Lisbon. This place where I was is a hangout spot for people of different races - Africans, Asians, etc.. I tried to take pictures of people of different social or cultural background but they all came you really bad. I was about to leave to go to the supermarket when I noticed that the man I first thought was asleep was now comlaining about something. He was asleep on the pedestal, touching the star, and when he turned around, he fell and that is what he was complaining about. I heard him cursig, turned around very fast, took the picture and left. As I was waiting for the lights to change near the crossroad, I was browsing throught he pictures and saw that the framing was decent, the light was ok and it was an interesting picture with a religious something to it: on the background you have a religious building (Catholic) and a Jewish star in the front.



I went for a stroll around the city and ended up in Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square), in Baixa. I was trying t take pictures at this group of performers (singer, guitar player and juggler) but the photos were coming out terribly ugly. I had already noticed this couple when I first got there but didn't try to take their picture because they were always loking in my direction. So, there I am trying to take a decent picture when I hear this really fun laughter, the kind f laughter you know that the person laughing is really enjoying him/herself. I turn around and take the picture. The funny thing is that it wasn't until I got home that I noticed that I had caught the guy laughing.

I love this one, eve though I dn't really know why. This is the picture of the shadow of a man who sells 2nd hand books under the arcades of Praça do Comércio in Lisbon. He has a cruffy beard and very understanding eyes. He saw that I was taking his picture and didn't mind at all. He went on back and forth with his stroll. When I finnished (10 pictures for 1 good one), I thanked him and he he smiled at me and nodded his head once.

Salamanca Exhibition photos # 8, 9, 10

To me, all of these picture have a feeling of loneliness in then. Yet, I don't hink they are sad photos.

Train station.

Love it!

Taken in one of my favourite hangout spots: the S. Pedro de Alcântara Belvedere, in Lisbon. I go there and read and enjoy the view... very relaxing.

Girl Power

Today at work there are only women. The boss is at home, sick.

More amazing graffities

The colours, the composition, who could say they are ugly?

(my current screensaver)

Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa

Salamanca Exhibition # 7

Homeless man, who saw that I was going to take the picture and started to leave. 1 second later, it would have been too late.

Today I am happy because

Now that I am a working girl (I have to take the metro, then a bus, then walk to go to work), I use the time it takes me to get there to read. I always liked to read, ever since I was a child, and since it takes me about 1 hour to go to work, I use that time to do something prolific. In my case, reading.

But this is my problem: today, I only had one book with me (!), the same book I’ve been reading since Monday, which means I was nearing the end of the book and forgot to bring another one. To many people, this may seem meaningless or idiotic, but to me it is a problem, because it means that I’ll spend about 1 ½ hour doing nothing but look away when people look at me on the bus and metro. Tis 1 1/2 hour is the rest of the time to go to work and the time of the way back.

So, I finished the book and then realised that I had my mp3 player with me, pressed play (Nada Surf, Billy Idol, Death Cab for Cuttie, …) and, when I got on the bus, I found an empty seat! Oh My God, I was so happy, because that meant I didn’t have to hold on for dear life while the bus driver transformed the bus in a race car.

I went to my seat, listed to the music and looked out the window and noticed how beautiful the view was. The sun was reflecting on the river water, really shiny, but the sky was still somewhat cloudy because it’s been raining for the past 3 days.

I can’t describe it any better, but it was so beautiful! The sun shinning through the clouds (gray and white), the blue sky, the sun reflecting on the water… it was the perfect beginning for a work day. That and the seat on the bus and knowing that tomorrow and the day after are public holidays, a.k.a. – no work.

Night update: the day didn't go so well. Today we had lots of work and I had to stay there for 1 extra hour.

Graffities - Bairro Alto

Bairro Alto is all about the bars, drinks and the graffities. Some graffities can be artistic, other not so much. This one is artistic, I think, as is this one.

Today I was looking for a new desktop screensaver and I opened a folder on my pc with several graffities I never got around to posting.

So here they are.

This is a new trend: a graffiti stencil (I made that up): someone cuts an image on a stencil, places it on a wall and spray paints it. And there you go, a graffiti. I like the fact that the painter stand out much more because of all the tags (graffiti lingo for signatures made with graffiti spray paint).

I think this is actually two different graffities: a boy praying and Tweety bird was later added. It lks silly and funny at the same time.

I love this one! If you look closely, you can see that the girl is handcuffed to the teddy bear. That says so much about childhood.

Salamanca Exhibition # 6

The woman in the post bellow reminded me of this man, who also seems tiny.

Salamanca woman (charra)

I told you I had an artistic photo taken in Salamanca. This is it.

I took this one in the Cathedral and, once again, I had to follow my subject around. I spotted her when I went in and immediatly noticed that she was walking very slowly and with difficulty. The day before I had noticed that there was set of candle shedding very little light over a corner of the cathedral and thought "Hum... I wonder what she would look like near the candles."

Originaly, I wanted the picture to be in colours, but after a miute or two after walking in, I got distracted and lost her. So I had to track her down and my the time she was near the candles it was too late to set the camera back to colours (I had set the camera for black and white). So this is her.

This is also one of my all-time favourites because the woman sees tiny.

Salamanca Ehibition # 5

Bairro Alto - Lisbon

A man kneeling down and cooking some sardines on a grill and a man who when for a walk with his dog.

Plaza Mayor

I probably took about 10 pictures at Plaza Mayor, in Salamanca. This is the only decent one.

Plaza Mayor is (I think) the central square in the city, as it was the case back in the day. It's a huge squre, with a large centre, where go and have expensive coffees, sit around doing nothing, fall asleep on the ground because it's made of stone, which is fresh during the summer (Yes, Hugo.) (inside joke). But when I was there, there was a book fair going on, so the pictures of the square were very limited.

Around the square is where it is the Municipal Council, and overly-priced degraded houses, empty houses and one or two hotels.

Mirror mirror on the wall

If crime showed on a man's face, there wouldn't be any mirrors.

Albert in We're No Angels, 1955 (movie)

Salamanca Exhibition # 4

One of my first picksfor the exhibition. It's in the Castle, in Lisbon. Only after a week or so did I realize who Biblical it looked, with the tree and the light.

I remember being a kid and going up to the Castle and seeing this tree there, exactly it is now. In over 10 years that it hasn't changed. I love who the leaves are very crips.

There's something about it.

Salamanca Exhibition # 3

Bairro Alto, Lisbon

1st days of work

So far so good.

I am now getting the grip of things, and everything seems to be running more smoothly, which is nice. The days don’t seem so endless and I can see I do things faster.

More pictures to come in the future.

Working

I am now getting a hang of the translation software I use at work.

I have just now been assigned my first solo work. Keep your fingers crossed.

Salamanca Exhibition # 2

30 Março 2009 - Napping

I took this picture in Lisbon, near the S. Carlos National Theatre. This old man was probably taking a nap as it was after lunch and I took the opportunity to snap a picture. There was a foreign couple sitting on a bench next to him who saw me taking the picture and were always pointing at me and whispering. I didn't hear what they were saying, but I didn't need.

On the background you see a statue of a man with a book instead of a head. That is Fernando Pessoa, famous Portuguese poet, although in real life he did have a head. It was built to comemorate the100 years of his birth (I think) and placed in this square because he lived for a very long time on the building behind it (windows with varandas).

Colombo's drawings

This is amazing!

I usually read the mazagine The New Yorker online and I noticed that this week's cover was amazing. No, not amazing, fantabulistic!

And now, after a little surfing trip through Blogtailors, they reported that the cover was made by a Portuguese artist, Jorge Colombo, ... on his iphone. I, too, am a little bit fed up with all the Apple frenzy, bu this cover is amaz... fantabulistic.

I may not be an art specialist, but the cover is AWESOME!

You can go here for his home page, and here you can read an article on him and his cover on a Portuguese newspaper.


Update 28 May: Here, is the The New Yorker's page with Colombo's video, drawing the picture.

Salamanca Exhibition # 1

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 30.03.2009 - Metro, Lisbon)

I also leave you with one of the pictures from my Salamanca exhibition.

Working girl

I finally found a job!

After 1 year of sending out résumés, it finally paid off.

I was already giving English lessons (so not 100% unemployed) and last week I received an e-mail from a translation company asking if I was still interested in a job. They were looking for someone for a position as project manager at the translation company who would later also do some translations. After an exchange of e-mails, they sent me some tests, I did them (somewhat difficult, I must admit) and we scheduled a meeting for Monday.

I thought I did well on the interview and they told me they would call me with an answer on the following they. Positive or negative. (at least that was fast). And they did. They called me on Tuesday and asked me to come in on Wednesday (today). I mean, I'll be interning for 1 year and after that I will be considered an emplyee of the company. The best part is that the internship is paid. 900 € plus 120 € for lunch per month. Not bad! And, of all the translation companies that there are out there in Portugal, I found out that a friend of mine is also working there! Small world.

So, today I went to work. What I do is more technical than creative (translation). I have to answer e-mail and phone call from people who make requests for budgets for translations, put the files through a server, fill in the name of the client and the project, establish a budget and send it to them.

So, I can know be considered as being part of cooperate Portugal.

Iei for me!!!

Casa de las Conchas (Shell House)

It sounds like something by the sea, but it isn’t. It’s a former house now library in Salamanca, with shells on the outside. The house has this name (and decorations) because Rodrigo Maldonado, from the Order of Santiago, had the house built in the early 16th century and the shells were the symbol of the Order.

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira – “Shell house”)

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - Shells)

Inside, to the right, there were these pink mannequins. They were the colour of bubblegum and were about 1.80 m tall. Everyone was taking pictures at the mannequins and with the mannequins.

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira – Pink Mannequins)

On Friday, there was going to be a concert there (after the library was closed, obviously) and they were just setting the stage ready when we got there. Hugo and Phillip Jenkins (from “The Lisbons”) asked me to take a picture of them sitting on the stage to pretend it was their stage.

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira)

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira – The Lisbons – Hugo and Phillip)

Billie's cursing

Years in night-club dressing rooms, in cabarets and juke joints had taught me every combination of profanity, or so I thought. Billie Holiday’s language was a mixture of mockery and vulgarity that caught me without warning. Although she used the old common words, they were in new arrangements, and spoken in that casual tone which seemed to drag itself, rasping, across the ears.

The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou

Salamanca's Cathedral

While I was in Salamanca, I took more than 300 pictures. Which is a normal amount, for me . Of all of these, I’ll probably end up with 20 good ones.

One of the most beautiful building there, in my opinion, is the Cathedral. It took them close to 200 years to finish and then, one they were done, they rebuilt it. So now there is the Old Cathedral and the New Cathedral, all in one.

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira-16 Maio 2009)

I took this picture in sepia because it just looked so beautiful and I wanted to make it look like an old pictures (minus the modern day looking people right at the bottom…)

The Cathedral is not big, it’s huge and recently it underwent some construction works and someone (Hugo told me “a man”) decided to include something bizarre near the door. Can you see?

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira-16 Maio 2009)

No? How about now?

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 15 Maio 2009)

As you can see, there is an astronaut on the façade. Iup, an astronaut. Leave it to men do think of something like that!

(I also have a very artistic picture of an old lady I followed inside the cathedral, but that will come later.)

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira- 15 Maio 2009 - Cathedral seen from the roman bridge)

Salamanca

So, Salamanca...

City of sun and students. Lots of students.

I arrived there at midnight, after a 6-hour train ride, on friday. Technically, it was friday because it was already midnight. I was on a train car with 6 more students, 3 of which (4 with me) also heading to Salamanca for their final exams (not me).

When I got there, Hugo, my friend, took me to hotel where I stayed up until 2 in the morning because I could not sleep. It's not that the bed wasn't confortable (that pillow, my God!), I just wasn't sleepy. He was going to be my official guide to the city, and so we met the next day for breakfast and sighseeing.

Before he got there the next morning, I went out to explore the surroundings, and near the hotel was this bench with a smile on! I couldn't resist and take take a picture. (I'll save the more artistic ones for later).

These are just pictures of textures.

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 14 Maio 2009, Salamanca)

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 14 Maio 2009, Salamanca)

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 14 Maio 2009, Salamanca)

Coldplay giving it away

Super cool band Coldplay is giving away their latest CD for free! And it's legal!

Just go here, and download their latest CD LeftRightLeftRightLeft.

Back from Salamanca

And I'm back!

I arrived on Sunday at 11 a.m. (came on the 5 a.m. train). After 1 1/2 hour of sleep, I arrived to Sunny Lisbon.

Now I need to put my 300 pictures of Salamanca on my pc and then on the blog. I 'll try and do it this week.

Keep coming by.

1 to Sal.

1 more day before taking a train to Salamanca! I am super happy and excited. Apart from the 7-hour train ride part.

I'll be staying for 2 days and two days ago, I realized that I'll be there during party days: friday and saturday. Better yet, viernes and sábado. I'll be taking the train back to Lisbon on sunday (domingo) at 5 in the morning.

Lots of pictures will be taken, I am sure.

Stolen Pictures

(it's the name of the newspaper article)

Regarding my photography exhibition, I gave a phone interview to a very prestigious and expensive portuguese culture newspaper about 3 or 4 weeks ago (my first photography exhibition came with a complementary newspaper article...).

The artile came out last wednesday, and it is here. It's written in Portuguese, but still, Enjoy!

I bought the newspaper and today I found out it was available online for free.

Freedom Dance

My people had used music to soothe slavery’s torment or to propitiate God, or to describe the sweetness of love and the distress of lovelessness, but I knew no race could sing and dance its way to freedom.

The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou

Salamanca, here I come

Just one more week before I take a train to Salamanca because of my photography exhibition.

All photos have arrived safely to their destination (so Hugo said).

7 days to go...

I Hate Allergies

I hate allergies! Specially right now when it's so hot in Lisbon (27/29º).

Why do I have hay fever?!

Why I Love Lisbon

1- Because it's a great city and right now it's really sunny and warm

2 - Because you can always find something/someone weird like the one below

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 1 Maio 2009)

3 - Because my mother and I received flowers! Some people were handing them out to women because tomorrow is Mother's Day! (mine is the red)

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 2 Maio 2009)

4 - Because, if you get really close to a urine-smelling wall, you can take pictures like this one below.

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 7 Abril 2009)

Hats

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 20 Abril 2009)

Skating

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 20 Abril 2009, Praça da Figueira)

Spot on!

No teenagers where harmed during the taking of this picture.

Butchers

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 4 Abril 2009, Mercado da Ribeira)

Lisboa, Cidade de Tolerância

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira- 4 Abril 2009)

Sleeping

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - 4 Abril 2009)

Who's there?

(© Sara Rodrigues Pereira - Abril 2009)

Last weekend, I was on my way to a market to take some pictures but decided to stopped along the way for this. This is a picture of a shadow of a man who talks to himself and sells books in downtown Lisbon.

I wish I had caught the shadow of this head!