RETHINK, QUESTION URBAN REALITIES
The photographic image is a lot of times used only to illustrate the character of a space and of the people that inhabit it with the purpose of proving certain point of view or opinion. However, photography can also be a research instrument that allows to discover new perspectives on architecture and public space. The aim of this thematic Rethink, Question Urban Realities is to integrate several contemporary photography projects capable of exploring and question urban realities of several cities and territories of the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP), allowing several urban spaces, building sets, public spaces and other urban components to be object of study.
The problematics that are the focus of the photographic projects will depend of the sensibility and personal interest of each author or collective and can have as source (i) various bibliographic material and (ii) the perspectives and personal interpretations of each autor or collective. The aim is that the photographic projects communicate in a non convencional way the richness and variety of the urban reality of this territories, where architecture of several periods and its history assume an important role in the character of a space. It’s intended to offer new perspectives on the spaces, searching for details and views that can give relevance to the characteristics of a space that otherwise would not be recognised. It is intended to go beyond the obvious, trying to communicate what is more subtle or complex, taking into account the richness of the various experiences of the place.
It is intended to build a visual narrative that is a critical and allegorical memory device of space, a photograph with a character that simultaneous belongs to the documental and fictional universes, existing the freedom to adopt several artistic strategies in a way to make it possible several levels of contamination between this two universes. It is not intended to illustrate or reconstruct the spaces or buildings, but to allow a poetic and critical reading of them.