When I began taking photography seriously I interviewed a friend of mine who specialized in photographing Washington, D.C. mostly in black and white. That’s what he had become known for locally, but he also photographed other places.
In his studio once, one photograph of Venice caught my eye. It was a very subtle photo of a flower pot, as seen through a railing, on a set of steps. It was titled “Venice.” It struck me that this flower pot could have been almost anywhere in the world, yet he titled it Venice.
I said to him, Venice is a big city, right? Is it really fair to take that picture and say ‘it’s Venice?”
Quickly he answered, “Yes. I spent time getting to know Venice and that picture is Venice for me.” To be fair, there were other photos of Venice too, under the same title. I accepted his explanation and obviously I have remembered it over the years. As an artist, that photo was Venice to him.
I just spent two weeks in Portugal photographing Porto and Lisbon. This photo is the first one I printed after reviewing everything I came back with. To me, this is Lisbon. This is Portugal. It is not everything there is to know about the city or the country, but it is representative of what it is like to be there.
Colorful. Warm. Inviting. Simple. Like a grilled sardine with salt and lemon.
More to come…