The House

Álvaro Portugal was born in Porto in 1957

Holds a degree in Painting by Escola Superior de Tecnologias Artísticas, Coimbra

Degree in Civil Engineering by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra

Works and lives in Coimbra

Has had regular art exhibits since 1998

… the intention of representing not objects but “feelings”, not found in nature, and supporting them in images of figures, are factors that inevitably carry a deformation, constitute a distinct feature of a style or a line of expression.

Web: facebook.com/alvaro.portugal.ceramica.pintura » 

I was born and raised in Mozambique and have had a very ardent contact with nature since childhood. Being able to get out of the city into the bush was a privilege I never wasted. First with my father and with my late brother, then autonomous, with childhood friends who, like me, shared the taste for adventure and nature.

Experiencing nature is always gratifying, but I believe that the experience enhances when in Africa. There, everything is grandiose, from the endless spaces, to its biodiversity and to the behavioural commitments that nature throws at us, from absolute serenity with which it envelops us, calms and fuses itself, to the most violent type of violence, with natural phenomena that, not being exclusive to the continent, still gets an overwhelming reaction. As the great Mozambican writer Rui Knopfli put it in his poetic work on the subject of European and African rivers … “Belos como os rios são os nomes dos rios da velha Europa. Desvendada, sua beleza flui sem mistérios. Todo o mistério reside nos rios da minha terra. Toda a beleza secreta e virgem que resta está nos rios da minha terra”.

In my teenage years it dawned on me that such glimpses deserved to be continuously archived as images. So, and with the help of photography and the technology that those times allowed for, I began to record images of the experiences I lived within the wild. Many times, against the will of my friends who accompanied me, considering worthless to reproduce images in black and white that our eyes could very well see in full colour, therefore irreproducible. Funnily enough, it is these very same images that last today among the most important things that we all retain as memories from the past.

This passion for nature has often led me to the place I would choose as the example of paradise on earth, Gorongosa National Park. Finding myself in that space was like feeding the soul and internalising and feeling what, for me, could best identify with absolute happiness.

Through my entire high school years, I wished to one day graduate in Veterinary Medicine, an area that would allow me to carry out my activity in the wild. Fate, for reasons unexplained, led me to another area of knowledge, Medicine. I attended the course at the Medical School of the Lourenço Marques University (current Eduardo Mondlane University) until the 5th year, having finished the last year at the Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto (Medical School, Porto University), where I remain to this day as a paediatrics professor.

It was in Portugal that, after many years, a will to live and return to photographing wildlife was reborn in me, especially the avifauna. First, along with what I saw published on the internet about birds, mainly breathtaking pictures made by fantastic photographers, and then with direct contact with some of the very same photographers, and finally with the purchase of specific photographic material, I delved back into this hobby. First with the use of a telescope coupled to a camera (digiscoping) and later with different lenses, looking for the precious help that the technological evolution gave to photographers.

There have been many trips since then, both in Portugal and other countries. These experiences have been portrayed in text and image in several books, thus perpetuating adventures lived in the company of friends united by the same charm that is the photography of birds living in total freedom and in their natural habitat.

I am but an amateur photographer, with no specific training other than the one that I was internalizing by the contact and experience with several excellent photographers and by the repeated training in direct contact with the birds in the wild.

Perhaps because of this, and because I recognise how much I still must learn, I have never responded to some challenges to present my photos. That is, until I was confronted with the announcement of a medical conference organized by my dear cousin José Manuel Poças, where, in the program, it was said that during the day there would be a photograph exhibition of birds of my own. It became clear to me that there was no way out, and only that way would I ever show my work.

Published Books Links:

Aves na natureza no Pantanal (Birds in nature in the Pantanal) – Mato-grosso – Brasil »

Aves na natureza na Colômbia, Costa Rica e Panamá (Birds in nature in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama) »

Aves na natureza na Costa Rica (Birds in nature in Costa Rica) »

Aves sem fronteiras (Birds without borders) »

Aves na natureza em Portugal e Espanha (Birds in nature in Portugal and Spain) »

Aves na natureza em África (Birds in nature in Africa) »

Aves na natureza em Portugal (Birds in nature in Portugal) »

Aves na natureza em Portugal II (Birds in nature in Portugal II) »

António Guerra

Eduardo is, among other things, a painter.

In constant activity, he has organized and/or participated in collective exhibitions, outdoor painting, meetings, conferences, performances, publications, musical shows, besides being a monitor of free painting courses and illustrator of numerous edited works. He is also a professional dedicated to his profession and passion, with proficient and vast experience in Portugal and abroad.

Born in Setúbal, he graduated in Architecture from the Lisbon’s Escola Superior de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts), having had as professors Frederico Jorge and Daciano Costa, as well as António Sena and João Hogan at AR.CO, where he studyied painting and engraving from 1976 to 1981. He also specialized in London art schools – Slade School of Art and Central St. Martins College of Art & Design (in 1998 and 2011). He holds a Master of Science from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

He reconciles his professional experience with his art through a fusion between art and science, which he takes advantage of in his exhibitions, performances, works of illustration and curatorships.

Eduardo has 30 years of experience and practice as an artist, painting continuously, and having participated in 113 collective exhibitions and carried out 28 individual exhibitions.

Poetry has always been a source of inspiration, and he has also illustrated countless books of poetry and prose.

He has a cultural merit medal by the city of Setúbal. And he is represented in both national and international collections. Eduardo is also a part of several local collectives (like Synapsis) and international collections.

Web: eduardocarqueijeiro.com »