Streets of Porto
For a short introduction to Porto please see here. Shot in February 2015.
Discovering Porto
Porto is truly a magnificent city. Though unmistakably Portuguese, it is pretty different from Lisbon. Porto is much smaller than the sprawling Metropole in the south, but that’s the apparent difference. While Lisbon is more polished and colorful, Porto has a more rugged feeling – ochre color tones being much more prevalent in the city’s architecture. The narrow streets of Porto are every writer’s dream city for the location of a suspenseful historical thriller set somewhere between the 16th and 19th centuries. And then there are the churches, covered in pure gold; they are monuments of the town’s past glory. It was a time when Porto was literally the country’s principal port, and all the riches of Brazil poured through the city, bringing previously inconceivable wealth to the citizens. Finally, the British conceived the Port Wine to ship wine from Northern Portugal to the British Islands. While it is solid and heavy, at the same time, it tends to be sweet and gentle. It’s much like the city itself, actually.
Porto in Rain II
Shot on a weekend end of February while roaming through the rain soaked streets of Porto in Northern Portugal. You’ll find Part I here.
Photographing Lello & Irmão
Also called the “Harry Potter”-Bookstore, for JK Rowling supposedly being here and taking inspiration, Lello & Irmão is a magnificent piece of architecture in Porto, Portugal. It was built in 1906 by Xavier Esteves, a well-known Iberian architect of the prewar period. Usually, the style is described as Neogothic-Jugendstil, and while that is true, it definitely has a fantastic or mystic touch. Indeed, the bookshop would fit very well in any wizardry story, and it is the perfect place to dive into your fantasy book. The store and the books seem to mix here in an engaging, almost magic way. I very much recommend a visit.
Porto in Rain
Shot last weekend while roaming through the rain soaked streets of Porto in Northern Portugal.
Lisbon in Focus
When people ask me about the craft of photography – and by no means do I want to claim to be an expert – they usually first ask about my gear. I get it; the gear is essential. Of course you want to have a DSLR to get a good quality shot and have a lens with a wide spectrum to catch it all. Post-processing is part of it, too, as are some lighting improvements and tone adjustments. But that’s not what it is really about. You can get good equipment nowadays for less and less money, and that’s cool because it allows more and more people to express themselves creatively. But what I like about photography is getting to look closely, finding interesting subjects, and uncovering the hidden things in daily street life. Basically, photography – or the kind of photography I like – is focusing, finding beauty in common things, and following their geometry. The gear helps, but the work is done by the eyes. The result is joy and maybe some exciting shots (among many many hundreds).
Michael Hoffman Photography 