ENCOUNTERS
Getting to know the world, one conversation at a time.
A Map of Encounters
Encounters
Everyone has a story. Most of them will never be written down.
I started approaching people I didn’t know and asking if I could paint them. A fisherman, a police officer, a florist, a firefighter, a woman singing traditional Portuguese music, a man who has been selling sweets since he was twelve.
What began as a portrait project quickly became something else. I realised I wasn’t only interested in painting their faces. I wanted to listen to them, understand something about their lives and preserve a small part of the encounter.
I don’t know who I will meet next or where this project will take me. That’s part of it.
I am getting to know the world, one conversation at a time.
MARIA DE LURDES - Florist - Lisbon, Portugal
ANTÓNIO ALBERTO — Café Owner — Lisbon, Portugal
ANTÓNIO — Pharmacist — Lisbon, Portugal
SÉRGIO PEREIRA — Police Officer — Lisbon, Portugal
ROSÁRIO — Fishmonger — Lisbon, Portugal
AQUILINO — Fisherman — Alvor, Portugal
MARCOLINO — Fisherman — Sagres, Portugal
FRANCISCO — Restaurant Owner — Portimão, Portugal
CARLOS ALVES — Road Worker & Drummer — Ponte da Barca, Portugal
DONA ROSA — Emigrant — Ponte da Barca, Portugal
JOÃO — Firefighter — Ponte da Barca, Portugal
Why I am doing this
I don’t know how many portraits this project will become.
Maybe fifty. Maybe five hundred.
I don’t know which cities it will take me to or who I will meet along the way. That’s exactly what I love about it.
I just know that every time I stop and speak with someone I would normally have walked past, I leave knowing a little more about the world.
And perhaps painting them is my way of making sure that encounter doesn’t completely disappear.
