For the past five years, in addition to the photojournalism award, Estaçao Imagem has awarded a scholarship for work dedicated to the Alentejo region of Portugal. This prize was created through the close ties between the city of Mora, in Alentejo, and Estaçao Imagem. This year, Nelson D’Aires’s Album de Famille is being presented.
Nelson D’Aires looked into the work of 20th-century portrait photographer Antonio Gonçalves Pedro, who had a studio in the city of Mora. For many years he photographed the inhabitants of the city.
Through the discovery of these archives, Nelson D’Aires acknowledges the historical value of these portraits. He is trying to rediscover these faces of the past through his own portraits. His work depicts the codes of old portraits. These are posed photographs shot with a flash and a solemnity which reminds one of yesteryear.
This project is the result of years of research. The captions tell us about what these people became, as well as the ties that bind them to others and to the place where they live.
EXHIBITION
Nelson D’aires: Album de Famille
Estaçao Imagem-Bourse 2012
March 1st – 31, 2014
Galerie Torreao Nascente da Codoaria Nacional
Av da India
Lisbon
