Life and/in light

THINK. ​How many photos do you have in your phone camera reel archive? The device I am using now has 5,644. We no longer even think about the act of capturing a sight. Press a button, snap a photo. Or ten. Move on.

On our recent holiday trip, my wife and I were strolling the magical streets of Porto. Yes, occasionally taking photos of majestic sunsets over river Douro, picturesque townhouse facades or a grilled octopus tentacle that looked like taken off a mythical Kraken. 

Then we ventured into the Museum of photography to see an exhibition of Vivian Maier’s life work.

Photography is simply a glimpse of life caught by the light going through the camera lens, made permanent on a photographic film.

Life and/in light.

Vivian Maier taken over 120,000 photos in her life. These vast archives were fully discovered after she passed away, in a remote storage. She never had any exhibition. She spent her life capturing moments in people’s lives that would have been gone and forgotten, if not for these photos. Unconsciously expressed emotions, reflections in window panes and mirrors, shadows of walkers by. The poetry of ordinary life.

If only we could stop and notice it in the moment.

One of my favorite photos is the artist herself taking a self-portrait, facing a shop front window in New York City. Without thinking, I snapped a photo of it standing right in front with my phone. The photo of the photo now has my ghastly reflection as if I was standing behind the artist capturing a moment in her life.

Or, maybe it is just how the power of photography works, transgressing time and space?

DO. Can a work of art change the real world?

One undeniable dimension are works of literature that are so thought provoking that some authorities or activist movements take measures to ban it from public domain. Whether it is destroying physic copies, removing from school or university programs, imprisoning authors, public ostracism or a range of other inconveniences, the messages are apparently controversial enough to undermine the very core of some beliefs, values or political interests.

Manifesto Library, recently established in Porto in collaboration with the celebrity pop singer and founder of Service95 Book Club Dua Lipa, collects 100 books that belong in such space. While many of them were not necessarily banned or censored by different authorities, they have been subjected to controversies, social backlash, or at least - vivid public debate. These works are organized in chapters devoted to Power, Control, Voice and Memory.

While I was slowly browsing the catalogue and watching video interviews with some of its authors, it struck me how slim is the chance for a book to create a worldwide ripple - especially given how much content gets mass-produced. At the same time, such ripple has potential to send a tsunami of impact (pun intended!) across multiple sets of audiences. Whether it is a supportive voice, or a strong counter-reaction, it makes people act.  

A book can often be a conversation starter. It is arguably the most accessible, most cost effective from of learning. Fiction or not, it makes us immerse in the lives of others, embracing perspectives we often shy away from and questions we are afraid to even contemplate.

It sends us on a journey from a safety of our armchairs, sunbeds and subway seats. 

FEEL. Damn, I needed a break!

A lot of our lives is happening in loops. Daily, weekly, annual. We follow rhythms and schedules, barely noticing how orchestrated everything is. Family rituals and chores, work patterns, even leisure, flows with convenient recurrence. Discoveries only begin when we break out from routines. We take a little peak behind doors we never knew existed and find a whole hidden universe.

One early morning, I snatched a to-go black coffee and walked up the hill to visit the Porto cathedral. The sun was still low. Skies clear. Mild breeze from the river.

The cloister surrounding inner courtyard was quiet. A few random tourists admiring meticulous azulejos, myself included. A natural spotlight was formed by the sunrays entering the cloister through a round opening in the facade. 'Look at me', it emanated. 

In the spotlight, I found a fragment that since then became our family meme. A fatherly figure that sends a loud message to little cherubs. Most likely in vein. Caught in the same conversation loop. But somehow any other life is unimaginable.

It was time to go home.