Graffiti and murals

click photo to enlarge
From what I've seen of Portugal - the capital, Lisbon, and something of the coast and countryside nearby - the country has a problem with graffiti. In particular the "tags" that people spray on buildings and anywhere else that offers a flat, plain surface. On some buildings, particularly in and  around some residential areas, the surface up to a height of six feet is covered with years-worth of the stuff. Fortunately in public places it is usually much less prevalent. I've written elsewhere on this blog about my feelings on graffiti, so I won't repeat them here. I've also expressed my views on murals painted on buildings, saying that I prefer them to be on something attached to the surface rather than on the wall itself. That way the building doesn't have to suffer the years when the mural is in decay and has become an eyesore.

Of course, my view is founded on my experience of murals in the cities and towns of the regions of the UK, rather than in capital cities. And the fact is, I've seen very good murals in London, works that enhance an area and put a smile on the face of passers-by. It's hard not to agree that these are worth-while artistic and social endeavours that make a positive contribution to the cityscape. I've seen examples of this sort in Lisbon too, and today I post a couple of photographs of two murals on two elevations of the same building. The building is adjacent to the quay where liners tie up, a riverside area of strictly utilitarian buildings, somewhat neglected, where this mural adds a note of interest. When I saw the characters in the main photograph I had a feeling I knew them from somewhere: they looked familiar, with a hint of steam punk about them. However, I've been unable to turn up anything on the internet so I'll have to wait and see if anything eventually surfaces from the depths of my memory. The face on the smaller photograph made out of chipped render is particularly effective and unusual. Incidentally, some of the pervasive graffiti that I mentioned can be seen on the lower left of the building.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (30mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.2
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

New among the old, Lisbon

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Looking out recently across the rooftops of an old part of Lisbon, from a vantage on the Castelo de Sao Jorge, I reflected on the old, the new "old" and the new that was laid out before me. The tightly packed streets were hundreds of years old as were many of the houses that were still inhabited. Stone, render and tiles (called in England "Roman" style) were the main materials on display. A lot of money and effort had gone into keeping the buildings in good repair, and the owners, like owners across Europe, had adopted one of three approaches to their restoration work.

Some had used old materials (where possible) and kept the building looking as it had done for a long time i.e. they ensured it was and looked old. Others had used obviously new materials but the extensions and refurbishments were in the style of the old buildings of the locality: they were new "old". But one owner had decided that a new style would be used for a new extension and had built something determinedly modern. When I saw it I thought, "Well done!". I have no objection to conserving old areas, but I think there are places where a sympathetic new building can complement old buildings and offer insight and interest. I also think there is sometimes a place for a new building among old buildings, one that loudly proclaims itself and fits in with its surroundings in ways that are not always obvious.

The modest blue, yellow and red building does, I think, do the latter. Its colour and materials make it appear radically different from its surroundings, but everything else makes it sympathetic to the location - its size, openings, roof lines, even angles; as well as the fact that it is unseen to all except the immediate neighbours and viewers on the castle ramparts!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18mm (52mm - 104mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Vodafone Offices, Lisbon

click photo to enlarge
Sometimes you don't really see and understand something until you've photographed it. I find this is particularly true of buildings. Take today's photograph. I took several photographs of the Vodafone Corporate Headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal, recently. I liked the blocky surface that the architects, Arquitectos Associdos, specified for some of the elevations.

On first looking at it the wall covering appears to be completely random, but close study of the photograph shows this not to be the case. There are three horizontal bands of blocks with a pattern that repeats. Each group of three bands is separated from the next by a band of windows. It is here that the random element is introduced because the shutters are flat projections when light is being admitted but fold out then into a flat position when deployed. Since each window's shutter is operated separately the surface of the elevation is randomised by the people working behind each one. It is unusual, visually interesting and, I imagine, works well in controlling the light and the heat generated by solar gain.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18mm (36mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/1600 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: 0EV
Image Stabilisation: On

More gallery reflections

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I recently read that the film, "Ben Hur", is being re-made. There's an old joke about the 1959 version, starring Charlton Heston, wherein someone who is asked what they thought of the film replied, "Liked him, hated her."!

I was reminded of this  witticism (though in reverse) on a recent  visit to a Lisbon gallery dedicated to two painters, the Hungarian Arpad Siznes (1897-1985 and his wife, the Portuguese Maria Helena Viera da Silva (1908-1992). I very much enjoyed the latter's work, especially the abstract city landscapes, but really could not find much that I liked in her husband's work.

The gallery itself has been made from an existing building that faces a square near a section of the large aqueduct (Aqueduto das Aguas Livres) that traverses this area of Lisbon. Its interior is painted white  (see previous post) with the exposed roof timbers and the tiled floor adding natural and muted colour. However, its origins in a pre-existing building mean that it has multiple levels, stairs, walls, lifts and corridors. Walking through the main exhibitions I came upon this glass wall and photographed my framed reflection. When processing the shot it occurred to me that a high key treatment might work with the essentially white details, so I converted it to black and white and then made the necessary adjustments.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 67mm (13mm - 26mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/20 sec
ISO:6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Reflecting on gallery walls

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When I frame a photograph or select a background for a photographic subject the colours I most commonly use are cream, black and white. There are those that argue the latter two are not colours but in everyday parlance they are and most people treat them as such. Their virtue as a backdrop is that they are neutral and interact with and modify a subject much less than any of the other colours. The same is broadly true of cream (and also grey).

In my experience today's galleries also favour these colours, especially white, above all others as a background for art works, particularly framed paintings, and undoubtedly for the same reasons. However, more traditional gallery buildings housing more traditional paintings sometimes go in for other colours such as drab purple, greyish blue, or autumn green, colours that, I suppose, better reflect the opulent decor of the houses in which the works would have originally hung. But, as far as modern galleries displaying contemporary or twentieth century work are concerned white is pre-eminent as a background with, as far as I can see, black a distant second.

Today's photograph shows a gallery with black painted walls in a small Lisbon museum - the Casa Museu Dr Anastacio Goncalves - created from a house and the collection of paintings and furnishings of its owner. The gallery was between exhibitions and lit only sufficiently to allow visitors to pass through safely to the main rooms of the building. The fall of the light and the colours appealed to me sufficiently to take this shot.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 25mm (50mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/13 sec
ISO:6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Gallery-going

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What do people hope to get from going to art galleries? The answer to that question is many and varied, and though all (presumably) wish to see works of art, each individual brings his or her own thoughts, opinions, prejudices, hopes, expectations and experiences to bear on what they see. Consequently every gallery-goer sees and experiences something slightly (or considerably) different from their fellow visitors.

My tastes in art, as in photography, are wide. I like representational work but also semi-abstract and abstract pieces too. I'm old enough  and experienced enough to know what I like and to be able to make a fair stab at explaining my preferences and dislikes. But, as a photographer, and as someone interested in architecture I always have one eye on the setting of the works of art - the building and the individual galleries. This is not only for the interest and variety that can be found in these  areas, but also the way in which the setting can influence one's appreciation of what is displayed.

On a recent visit to several galleries in Lisbon, Portugal, after viewing exhibitions, I took a few shots of the interiors of galleries as I sat with my camera and my own thoughts. Today's post is the first of a few on this theme.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 67mm (134mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO:3200
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On