Joana Saramago Photography

Please continue following my work on my new blog.
http://joanasaramago.blogspot.com/

Este blog está acabado. A sério!!
Agora há um novo com mais do mesmo e com um nome mais fácil de decorar: o meu!!!
:D

cont.

As promised on my previous post, here are the missing photos.

To see more, just go to my flickr page.

The dance show:







Mão Morta at Optimus Alive, Lisbon 2010







Mão Morta at Paredes de Coura, 2010







And the submarine.

July and August

A lot happened to me in the past two months.
Because I injured my leg, I had to leave my dance group and the rehearsals for the show.
So, that's two bad things already. The injury was pretty tough and I couldn't move my leg for a couple of weeks. I stayed in bed long enough to get to the conclusion that I'm not nineteen anymore, I never wanted to be a professional dancer, and the long I stay, the greater the odds of getting injured again are.
So the third bad thing is, I'm putting my beloved contemporary dance class on hold for now.
I love my dear teacher, I love my colleagues, it breaks my heart every time I think that I have made the choice of stepping out.
I went to the show as a mere spectator. I took only photos on the last stage rehearsal. I wanted to see the show as everyone else does.

A few days before this show, Jorge Ferraz Trio played in Nimas to release their first album. I was there to shoot it properly.
Then Mão Morta played a few gigs here and there, they played in Lisbon at the Optimus Alive festival and more recently at Paredes de Coura festival.

Between shooting gigs with an aching leg, I've been working lots at the magazine.
One of these days I woke up and switched on the computer to read the news and check the the weather. I read something about a submarine recently bought being very expensive to the country.
This vessel was due to arrive on that day. And then I got dressed, had something to eat and left to work.
I cross the river by ferry almost everyday. I had already forgotten all about this submarine story when I looked outside and there it was.
I took a few pics of it just for fun. And then I kissed my Canon G9 for being such a good girl.

I'm trying to post some pics here to go along with all this text but my poor old mac is giving up. The poor thing needs to be replaced soon!! It never let me down 'till now. It's so full of photos and software that it can't just cope with it any more. Lately I've only been able to use it to browse the internet and check my emails. It seriously needs to be formated and reinstalled.

Finally and just to end this post, I've decided to go back to school, I'll be studying photography for real, starting a 18 month course in October. I miss school, I miss being taught things.

And most of all I will be finally be studying photography, my favorite subject of them all.

You can see photos of the gigs I mentioned above in flickr.com/joanasaramago. I will try to upload the submarine ones as soon as I can.

LX 9-6 #13 #14

The last ones of the batch.
These are photos #13 and #14 of LX 9-6.

LX 9-6 #12

I stood up and pretended to take pictures of Cacilhas through the window.
I'm still waiting for the day when someone gets mad at me for pointing the camera at them.


This is photo #12 of LX 9-6.

LX 9-6 #11

I guess he was just tired.

This is photo #11 of LX 9-6.

LX 9-6 #10

It's the end of the day and people stand waiting for the ferry to dock.
I prefer to cross the river by train just because it's more comfortable and clean but I love the river Tejo. It takes only 10 minutes to cross to the other side but those 10 minutes are therapeutic. Plus, it's cheaper...

LX 9-6 #08 #09

After I took these shots a security guard came to me and told me in some sign language that I couldn't take photos in there. I was inside the ferry station, a place that's been full of tourists lately. I stood in the same spot for over 10 minutes, playing with the camera. Obviously I looked like a spanish/french/dutch/german terrorist and they thought I could harm the place somehow. The way I was approached was very funny. The guard came from behind and touched my shoulder. then I looked at him and he did this face of "my lips are sealed but no no, no camera, no camera". Even after I appologised in Portuguese, he kept communicating in his way...
strange people. At least he was polite and never asked to see the camera.

LX 9-6 #05 #06 #07

So I got of the Metro in Baixa and walked all the way to Terreiro do Paço. This is a beautiful plaza, but for the past 12 years has been under construction for various reasons. In 1997/8 started the works to extend the Metro line to Sta. Apolónia. The works lasted for many, many years. Then they finished these works and started new ones, this time to improve the sewage system. And when we thought we could enjoy the praça again, BAMM!! the Pope comes to visit and the city hall decided to spend a few more dimes in embellishing it for the Pope mass.

LX 9-6 #04

Something tells me that a lot of guys will like this photo.

This is photo #04 of LX 9-6.

LX 9-6 #03

Lucky for me, the yellow line now intersects with the red in Saldanha. And the new platform is very nice. It's got phrases and drawings of Almada Negreiros (I may be wrong, please enlighten me if I am). Lisbon's ahead of London in this. The metro stations are all different and artistic.
You can pop in the train and visit them one by one. They reflect the best of portuguese artists and architects.

This is photo #03 of LX 9-6.

LX 9-6 #02

I'm trying to bring this blog back to life. I feel I don't have the time to use the internet anymore and Facebook takes away all the time I had left for blogging. I guess I should just quit playing farmville and do more interesting things.
One thing I used to love in London was taking photos while going to work or back home. I always thought it's transports had this unique feel... almost every photo i'd take on the Tube, looked good (I said almost).
And that's very hard to get in Lisbon! Or I can't see Lisbon in the same way.
Anyway, yesterday I left work early and then I went for a walk in Baixa (downtown).
I took a whole bunch of photos and will post one every day.

This is photo #02 of LX 9-6.

LX 9-6 #01

Today I got to leave work at half past six. This is photo #01 of LX 9-6.

Mão Morta - Coliseu dos Recreios

Awesome concert yesterday.
Mão Morta just released a new album, Pesadelo em Peluche,  with a massive gig a Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon.
I've got more photos on my flickr page, and you can listen to the new single Novelos de Paixão at myspace.com/maomorta.

It's been a while....

It's been quite a while since I last wrote anything here.
The thing is, this winter was so long that I just lost any will to blog at all.
I'm like lizzards and turtles. If the sun is shinning, then I'm happy. If it rains like if we're in some northern european country, then I'm not and I just don't want to do anything else apart from what I already have to.
So just a quick update for my 3-month absence:
January: working a lot, dancing a lot.
February: working a lot, no fancy-dress parties for Carnaval, dancing a lot.
March:working a lot, two dance shows, new camera!!!
April: worked a lot so far, will shoot nice things with my new camera. Will buy some new photographic equipment. Will get out in the sun in short sleaves. Will go out more.

And now, some photos:
In March the class performed twice at the local theatre.
These photos are from a stage rehearsal. At some point I just thought that I couldn't let it pass without taking some pictures. So I grabbed my (new!!!!) camera and shot it.
I have to thank the girls that they are already so used to my presence with a camera that don't even bother to say anything. When I'm shooting them it's like I'm invisible, they're comfortable and they want to be photographed, so no-one does funny faces, they just dance. And I love them so much that I just want to take photos of them all.
more pics here.

Jorge Ferraz Trio posing for me

Me&Ringo : self portrait

Lisbon #15 Happy New Decade everybody!

A year ago I wrote this. My advice to you this year is: do not pay any attention to anything I might say as I don't follow my own advice.
I didn't do any savings, I bought a new tv and I quit from a job I didn't like.
Having said this, I got to be more creative, this was my busyest year ever.
I've learnt how to be a better Photographer and a better Designer, my mind is full of new projects and I wish I had 48 hour' days so I could fully develop my ideas.

The photo I'm posting today was taken last week. It's Lisbon' downtown at night (well, at 7pm), a few days before Xmas.

Lisboa #13

Xmas eve went fine, Santa does read my blog. :D
He brought me a Gorilla Pod, Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote (twice!!), a CHOCOLATE FONDUE and a lot of other things.
Thank you Santa! You're the man!

This photo is for Santa!

Lisboa #12

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I just wrapped all the presents and cooked the usual, fantastic, fabulous, OMG, rice pudding.
Did I mention before that I'm H. M. Queen of Rice Pudding?
:D

A photo for you.