Hues of Nazaré

Personal Project

This piece of work took me to the seaside on the Silver Coast de Prata, in the famous town of Nazaré, Portugal. Nazaré is a popular tourist attraction famously known for its surfing record-breaking giant waves. I went in March when the tourists have deserted the town and I could concentrate my encounters with the local people.

What better place to start then a morning at the food market located a short walk away from the beachfront. I was interested in meeting with the locals, wandering around the market discovering amazing faces and colours. As I walk around I noticed that people were not as friendly, at first. I started talking to a lady who explained that lots of tourists go there during the summer and take 100’s photos a day but never buy from their stores. Now it all made sense, I had to build a friendly relationship with them. By that time I already snapped a few photos of the fisherman’s wives working there. I decided to go to the local printer and print some of these amazingly colourful ladies portraits. That was my icebreaker, straight to the heart of some of the strongest fisherman’s wife. Most of the ones I gave their photos to were really touched and really appreciated the attention I was giving them. From that day, my relationship with these people changed from being seen as an opportunist tourist digital snapper to a friendly photographer. This is where my story of the colourful ladies of Nazaré started.

For my collection “Hues of Nazaré” I concentrated on telling a story not only of the people of Nazaré but also the street, the amazing colours and striking textures of the town. I truly captured natural images of people; a story of everyday life emerges through the images, each of which is a moment in Nazaré life. I focused particular attention to the detail of their surroundings, to the street life and amazing shapes and colours. Often when people visit Nazaré its mainly for surfing, the beaches, for the weather and the food. The details of the town and these colourful people are too often ignored. This is why these moments in time are of particularly emotional importance to me and I hope you will see this reflected in my photography.