Portugal 2023
In April 2023, almost a year to the week that I traveled to France, I was lucky enough to attend another of my English cousins’ weddings. Of course, I once again couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stay across the pond an extra week and explore a new place, this year: Portugal. I’ve actually been to Portugal before, I spent a few days in Lisbon during my Study Abroad trip in 2017, but I have always heard amazing things about the rest of the country so my girlfriend and I decided to see all of it! We started in Porto for a few days, before spending a whole day driving the scenic route all the way south to Lagos in the Algarve.
The Goal
This trip was definitely not a photography trip, not that that stops me from photographing like a madman, but the goal of this trip was to relax and enjoy the excitement of exploring a new corner of the world. There were a few things I was intent on capturing though, as I was really inspired by the recent work I’ve seen from Faizal Westcott’s travels through Paris and Venice. The way he uses textures of glass, reflections, and graffiti to create a gritty and dramatic atmosphere. I have been on a similar trend with my street work recently, using longer focal lengths such as 40mm and 75-200mm zooms to use lots of windows and reflections and focus on fine textures, and graffiti has always been a huge draw for me when on the streets of Europe.
As for once we got to Lagos, I knew I wanted to focus more on the minimalism of Southern Europe, especially pertaining to both the architecture and the beaches. I also have learned from experience to avoid using my Fuji cameras on beaches, especially with adapted lenses, as sand is a friend of neither the sensor nor the dials and switches. Instead, I decided I would stick mostly to film for this portion. In the name of both a more minimal style as well as my wallet, I decided to use black and white film for this trip.
The Gear
After the great experience I had in Cape Town, I wanted to recreate that with the same kit - my Fuji X-H1 accompanied by my Olympus 28mm f/2.8 and an accompanying telephoto lens. This time around, I wanted to bring my Pentax 135mm f/2.8 for its low-light capabilities, but I somehow managed to leave it behind before heading to the airport. Luckily, on my first day in Porto I was able to stop by a really impressive camera shop - Maquinas de Outros Tempos - where I was able to find a great condition Olympus 75-150mm f/4 lens for a reasonable price.
For film, I brought my Olympus X-A2 with a roll of Ilford HP5 and a roll of an Agfa black & white film I had never heard of. Jordan had her Pentax P3 loaded up with Kodak Ultramax, which I borrowed a few times as she has a 28mm lens on there, something I was without.
Porto
The Photography Museum
One of my favorite places to photograph in Porto was funnily enough the Portuguese Centre of Photography. This museum used to be a public prison, and the big, brutal architecture, iron bars, and windows created a very interesting location.
Roadtrip
After a couple of days in Porto, we rented a car and began the journey straight South to Lagos in the Algarve. We tried to see as much as possible, following the coast, driving through hills, forests, mountains, countryside, and towns.
Lagos
This section of the trip was mostly about vacation, not photography. But that didn’t stop me altogether of course.
