NOITES DO NORTE
In the silence and beauty of the northern nights "I stand alone with the whole universe." The elongated Covid-19 pandemic brought us the sad experience of social confinement and isolation, amidst pain, uncertainties, fears and so many lives lost, the contemporary plague made us reflect on the impacts generated by our small daily behaviors. In times when the affection of social contact has turned into temporary danger and irresponsibility, we are faced with the need to rediscover ourselves and, above all, to keep the Eros drive alive in us. As Jonathan Swift said "discovery consists in seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what no one has thought". Enveloped in such an atmosphere I decided to resignify my experience of the pandemic and make the photographic project Northern Nights. Built from the essence of an on-the-road experience, Noites do Norte documents through the fantastic beauty of nighttime photography, different landscapes, historical monuments and points of interest in northern Portugal. In the nocturnal photographic painting, I sought the brushstroke of a pure look and an experience that would be instinctively built, in compositions constructed between visual touch and penumbra. The choice of destinations was made through very brief research so that there would not be too much information, most of the places I only know from the photographs of the project since I only visited them at night. A project that started unpretentiously, ended up lasting 14 months, covering 24 municipalities and the 7 districts of northern Portugal. A fantastic narrative in which I tried to fill time gaps by photographing between 8 pm and 5 am, thus creating the fantasy of a magical night.
