Inside the Sanctuary of Fátima in Portugal the Basilica of the Holy Trinity attracts visitors in their droves daily. There are but fleeting moments devoid of people, when just one or two individuals can be seen - this gives a sense of calm and serenity within the walls of this imposing modernist building, even if short-lived.
THE BLACKSMITH Tucked away in his forge in rural southern England, a blacksmith works iron, carefully banging into shape each piece with an expert eye. Nowadays this is an almost forgotten craft, but commonplace in days gone by.
THE FURNITURE RESTORERS In the sleepy village of A Dos Ruivos in southern Portugal, a small team of furniture restorers and artisan carpenters painstakingly restore old furniture, which they lovingly bring back to life. In January 2013 I spent a day photographing them at work.
THE CHAIR RESTORER Sally Broadway specialises in cane, rush and straw chair and seat repair. I had the privilege of seeing her at work when I went along to her workshop to collect my own chair. She allowed me to take some photographs.
Assignment
I have been working with People Against Poverty since 2012 following an Awareness trip to Iasi, a city in the east of Romania. There I documented ‘Way of Joy’, one of several projects the charity supports globally. In 2015 I joined the charity to document their Starlight Scholarship Scheme in Nepal which supports very poor families. The images shown here represent some of the people helped through each scheme, and show the environments in which they live their lives.
Photographing a working foundry has long been on my list of subjects, so when the opportunity presented itself I grabbed it with both hands. FRASAM's huge plant occupies a significant portion of Abrantes, situated in the heart of mainland Portugal. Unfortunately the melting furnaces were damaged on the day of the shoot. I hope to return to conclude this set of images.
Assignment
Wild Beer and Westcombe Cheesemakers are both artisan producers, they’re also neighbours, working from adjoining plants. Their products might be different, but, to my palate at least, cheese and beer compliment each other admirably. A delicious marriage of flavours.
One thing is true of both, they graft! There is a deep rooted belief in what they make, by people who love what they do, embodied by a core value that if something is worth making, it’s worth doing well, with imagination and creativity.
I am grateful for the array of new photo opportunities and the people I meet on my journeys to Europe and sometimes further afield.
Shortlist / Earth Photo 2018 / Royal Geographic Society
The burnt aftermath of the fires which raged across swathes of Portugal in 2017 was all too apparent when I took these photographs in two municipalities during November of the same year. There was clear evidence that communities had been devastated, the lives of many affected, some suffering human tragedy. And yet, the landscapes of eucalyptus and pine forests had been transformed into scenes of eerie beauty, a wild beauty resulting from wildfires.
It seems macabre to use the word ‘beauty’ given the terrible events which led to this change, but, the blackened and scorched landscapes I saw were strangely serene, almost as if stricken by a grief of their own.
Two Hundred Days is a travel book, originally published 2015, which illustrates my voyage through the rustic charm of Portugal. It encompasses the people, landscapes and way of life I saw through my lens during twelve visits, and it reflects around two hundred days of photography. These photographs are a small selection of the images made.
“I have sought to show, with some intimacy, a side of Portugal whose values and way of life seem, in many ways, congenial with my own. From market traders to fishermen, pilgrims to gypsies, I was drawn to those whose lives seem somewhat distant from the glare of the fast changing modern world, and who form the underbelly of a country where change is rapidly accelerating. I found these people to be polite and warm-hearted, often leading a traditional way of life, usually guided by religious beliefs and principles. They live and thrive in a diverse landscape; from the open plains of southern Alentejo to the more mountainous north. Along the west coast the terrain is wild and rugged, with glorious – often empty – beaches, and majestic cliffs that have been sculpted by the pounding waves of the Atlantic Ocean. To the east lies an interior of mountains and broad river valleys.”
The Severn Estuary has the highest tidal range in Europe, conditions which cause strong tidal streams, mobile sediments and the famous Severn Bore tidal surge. The Estuary is fed by five major rivers; including the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain. At low tide its ever changing bed offers interesting patterns and shapes, while colours reflected in the water change according to the colours of the sky.
A market garden, perched on the hillside of a small green valley near Bath in Somerset, provides a local community with organically grown fresh produce, much of which is sold in the farm shop. It's a way of life and very much a labour of love, with Gerald Rich at its helm. Over the period of one year I made regular visits to document the seasonal changes and the hard work that goes into running this thriving enterprise.