rural Portugal

Photographing people in an endogenous environment took me to the small and ancient villages in our territory, especially those in Barroso, where a varied and rich human, cultural and landscape heritage proliferates. In recent years I have walked around various regions and have been collecting small fragments of rural experiences in frames that record customs and traditions that still stand the test of time and are an example of a culture that reinforces and characterizes identities. Over these times I generated friendships that facilitated my closeness and coexistence in homes and between slivers of light and the blackness of the smoke from the fireplace, I registered daily flavors, aromas of smoked sausages and boiling iron pots, associating myself with table of subtle country delicacies. In some villages I discovered the children's lack of smiles, the loneliness of those who stay and don't leave, the aging roots, the tanks that are no longer flooded with clear water, which no longer runs down the path and where the bells break more and more. your sound. Rich in life stories that amaze me every day, sitting by the house amidst the smoke and aromas, I listen to a repeated past of various hardships that reflect ways of living that more recent times have eased. It is now worth the effort of the mayors who are fighting the disastrous effects of interiority and an extremely harsh climate in these small villages in the interior. I also listen to tales of affection and spontaneous solidarity remembered with nostalgia and still practiced today. On this site/blog, I document the present, to witness in the future, a difficult reality, in the hidden places of the interior of our country. I recognize in the inhabitants of these villages an enormous capacity to overcome the difficulties that accompany them in their daily lives. There is a lack of health, education and basic sanitation infrastructure, there is a lack of social support, there is a lack of investment and political will in the rehabilitation of these villages.

Ao longo destes tempos gerei amizades que me facilitaram a proximidade e a convivência nos lares e entre nesgas de luz e o negrume dos fumos da lareira fui registando quotidianos de sabores, de aromas de guarnecidos fumeiros e dos potes de ferro fervilhantes, associando-me à mesa de subtis manjares do campo.

Em algumas aldeias fui descobrindo a falta de sorrisos das crianças, a solidão de quem fica e não parte, as raízes que envelhecem, os tanques que já não se inundam de água límpida, que já não escorre pela vereda e onde os sinos intervalam mais o seu soar.

Rico em histórias de vida, que me vão surpreendendo em cada dia, sentado junto ao lar entre fumos e aromas, vou escutando um passado repetido de agruras várias que traduzem formas de viver que os tempos mais recentes vão atenuando. Vai valendo agora o esforço dos autarcas que vão combatendo os efeitos nefastos da interioridade e de um clima extremamente agreste nestas pequenas aldeias do interior. Vou escutando também contos de afetos e de uma solidariedade espontânea lembrada com saudade e ainda hoje praticada.
Neste site/blog, vou documentando o presente, para testemunhar no futuro, uma realidade difícil, nos recônditos lugares do interior do nosso país. Reconheço nos habitantes destas aldeias uma capacidade enorme de superação de dificuldades que os acompanham no seu dia a dia. Vão faltando infraestruturas de saúde, de ensino, de saneamento básico, vão faltando apoios sociais, vai faltando investimento e vontade política na reabilitação destas aldeias.

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