Joana Saramago Photography

SMIX SMOX SMUX @ Sala TMN

2011-07-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Jardim do Ultramar

2011-05-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

There's a park in Lisbon called Jardim do Ultramar. Ultramar means "overseas" and what distinguishes this park from all other parks in Lisbon is that it only has tropical plants.
It was built in 1906 by D.Carlos I, Portugal's last king and was meant to be a centre of research of botanical species brought from the colonies.

This set continues at flickr.com/joanasaramago

shooting a song

2011-04-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

I was given the assignment of shooting a song. At first I thought of something by The Kills or The Dead Weather but then I stumbled on Smells Like Teen Spirit sung by Patti Smith.
I fell in love with the song immediately... if before I already thought of it as an anthem for my generation from back in the days when I was growing up and had Kurt Cobain as my top idol and almost as a role model, now that I've discovered this cover I like it even more.

More from this set on flickr.

Childhood memories

2011-03-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, I used to go to Milfontes whenever my family wanted to go, which was often. We would stay there the whole summer break, easter, whatever... Both my grandfathers grew up there...I feel I still have some strings attached. Part of me is from there too and although we don't have a place to stay anymore, I still go back from time to time.

Standing up for our rights!

2011-03-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

Last saturday I went to a massive rally in Lisbon. Over two hundred thousand people gathered in central Lisbon to protest against the way government is leading the country into an abyss of debt, unemployment, poverty, etc, etc... A few hundreds of people also gathered in other cities all across the country.
Today a newspaper said that the prime minister is about to resign.
That's good news.
Bad news is that the guy that's standing in line to take his place is another jack-ass, same thing, different party..

More pics from the same set at my flickr gallery.

Scott Kelly @ Santiago Alquimista, Lisboa 2011

2011-03-08T04:08:00.000-08:00

more pics at the usual place.

Addler's Appetite and Knock Out Kaine

2011-03-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to this gig... Addler's Appetite.
I'm one of those people who doesn't pay much attention to who plays in which band... I couldn't care less sometimes. I was told that this was the band of former drummer from Guns'n'Roses, Stephen Addler and up until that point I had no idea who he was.
His band only played songs from the GnR's Appetite for Destruction album and I learn't later on that he wrote those songs. I don't listen to GnR very often but I enjoyed the gig. Great musicians! Another thing is that these guys LOVE photographers. They are very conscious of their looks and they like to pose a lot.
The supporting band was Knock Out Kaine and I din't like them as much. The singer kept joking about how hairy he was in some parts of his body. I guess these jokes would be more appropriate if the audience was all nasty bikers instead of 16-year-old middle/upper class kids who were more interested in shouting stephen addler's name all the time.

Addler's Appetite:

Knock Out Kaine

my french connection mermaid dress

2011-03-05T03:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to a nearby abandoned quay area to shoot for another school assignment.
The theme was "object out of context" and I decided to use my FCUK mermaid-dress again, this time on a model (herself being a great photographer as well).
These shots were made in the afternoon at around 5 o'clock, hence the hard shadows.
The weather was absolutely perfect, warm (20ºC) and sunny just the way I like it.
I enjoyed this session a lot as I'm just beginning to use models. It's a lot of fun.

More photos on flickr

People I live with

2011-02-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

This set continues on flickr.com/joanasaramago

Mão Morta before the gig (Fantasporto)

2011-02-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

More at flickr.com/joanasaramago

Mão Morta @ Noites Rivoli/ Fantasporto

2011-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

more at: flickr.com/joanasaramago

Dispersion and Mão Morta

2011-01-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

When I went to Porto to shoot the guys at Hard Club I already had a plan of what I really wanted to do. Instead of just taking pictures, I wrote down what kind of imagery I was going to produce.
Plus, I had an assignment for school. The teacher gave us a theme to work on. A complicated one.
"Dispersion - This is where everything gets disperse" (roughly translating).
We had a poem by Mário Sá Carneiro- Dispersão, to read and get inspiration from.
after reading it and understanding that his dispersion was in his mind, I thought I could shoot the gig and use it for this homework.
The plan was to deliver square images as opposed to the usual 10x15cm the teacher asks. I wanted to do blurry things, odd crops, silhouettes, shadows... This time, Dispersion would be in my photos.
This wouldn't be normal concert photography.

The photos showed here are the ones the teacher picked from a bigger set.
More photos are in my flickr gallery as usual.
Enjoy and feel free to comment.

I would like to add another thing:
If you like my work, play in a band and need some photographic work done, just send me an email.
I don't charge much (but I don't work for free either :D)
:)

Mão Morta @ Theatro Circo 2010

2011-01-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken in the beginning of December 2010, 2 days after the death of a very good friend, a childhood companion, a brother.
My mind wasn't at the concert. I shot twice as many photos as I usually do but only a few are worth seeing.

Ana standing in the rain

2011-01-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

New year

2011-01-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

In October I enrolled on a 18-month Photography degree and since then I've been taking different pictures everyday.
I've been doing as I'm told as I'm trying to be a better photographer.
I've got a whole bunch of teachers and they send a LOT of homework to do.

This is a self portrait.
The hardest thing to do. I'm not photogenic, I'm well off better behind a camera than in front of one but I had to do my homework.

Night

2010-09-23T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the night was beautiful.
The temperature was warm and I travelled on the outside deck of the ferry.

New blog it is.

2010-09-13T04:55:00.000-07:00

I've decided to shut down The Shade and Brush. Or at least stop writing there. It never had the best name to start with, and portuguese people find it hard to pronounce. Everytime I need to tell someone what's my blog name, people get a bit confused so for now on, my name is my blog's and all is easier.

I migrated the last photos so you don't feel lost.

July and August was like this:

The dance show:

Mão Morta at Optimus Alive, Lisbon 2010

Mão Morta at Paredes de Coura, 2010

And the submarine that cost millions to the portuguese tax payers.

LX 9-6 series

Today I got to leave work at half past six. This is photo #01 of LX 9-6.

I'm trying to bring this blog back to life. I feel I don't have the time to use the internet anymore and Facebook takes away all the time I had left for blogging. I guess I should just quit playing farmville and do more interesting things.
One thing I used to love in London was taking photos while going to work or back home. I always thought it's transports had this unique feel... almost every photo i'd take on the Tube, looked good (I said almost).
And that's very hard to get in Lisbon! Or I can't see Lisbon in the same way.
Anyway, yesterday I left work early and then I went for a walk in Baixa (downtown).
I took a whole bunch of photos and will post one every day.

This is photo #02 of LX 9-6.

Lucky for me, the yellow line now intersects with the red in Saldanha. And the new platform is very nice. It's got phrases and drawings of Almada Negreiros (I may be wrong, please enlighten me if I am). Lisbon's ahead of London in this. The metro stations are all different and artistic.
You can pop in the train and visit them one by one. They reflect the best of portuguese artists and architects.

This is photo #03 of LX 9-6.

Something tells me that a lot of guys will like this photo.

This is photo #04 of LX 9-6.

So I got of the Metro in Baixa and walked all the way to Terreiro do Paço. This is a beautiful plaza, but for the past 12 years has been under construction for various reasons. In 1997/8 started the works to extend the Metro line to Sta. Apolónia. The works lasted for many, many years. Then they finished these works and started new ones, this time to improve the sewage system. And when we thought we could enjoy the praça again, BAMM!! the Pope comes to visit and the city hall decided to spend a few more dimes in embellishing it for the Pope mass.

After I took these shots a security guard came to me and told me in some sign language that I couldn't take photos in there. I was inside the ferry station, a place that's been full of tourists lately. I stood in the same spot for over 10 minutes, playing with the camera. Obviously I looked like a spanish/french/dutch/german terrorist and they thought I could harm the place somehow. The way I was approached was very funny. The guard came from behind and touched my shoulder. then I looked at him and he did this face of "my lips are sealed but no no, no camera, no camera". Even after I appologised in Portuguese, he kept communicating in his way...
strange people. At least he was polite and never asked to see the camera.

It's the end of the day and people stand waiting for the ferry to dock.
I prefer to cross the river by train just because it's more comfortable and clean but I love the river Tejo. It takes only 10 minutes to cross to the other side but those 10 minutes are therapeutic. Plus, it's cheaper...

I guess he was just tired.

This is photo #11 of LX 9-6.

I stood up and pretended to take pictures of Cacilhas through the window.
I'm still waiting for the day when someone gets mad at me for pointing the camera at them.

This is photo #12 of LX 9-6.

The last ones of the batch.
These are photos #13 and #14 of LX 9-6.

music

2009-08-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

Lisbon Postcards

2009-02-22T02:08:00.000-08:00

London Postcards

2009-02-21T12:13:00.000-08:00