Photography promoting communication in Portuguese and Lusophone traditions
In late September, Somos – ACLP, the Portuguese Language Communication Association, presented the photography exhibition Somos Imagens da Lusofonia – In Each Face, a Collective Legacy. The exhibition, curated by architect Francisco Ricarte, featured the winning photographs from the annual competition organised by Somos. The focus of this year’s edition was portrait photography, showing the different cultures that make up the Lusophone world and reflecting the multiculturalism and interculturalism of this network of countries and peoples.
The exhibition offered a platform for photographers to show the cultural diversity and heritage of the Lusophone world through the lens of portrait photography. Focusing on individual faces, the photographs reflect the uniqueness of Lusophone traditions and characteristics. The winning photographs, as well as other selected images, highlight various aspects of Lusophone culture, including joy, resilience, hope and legacy.
First prize in the competition went to Luís Godinho, from Portugal, for his photograph São Tomé and Príncipe, which captures the joy of the country’s children. Second prize went to Bruno Pedro for his photograph Paz em Cabo Delgado (Peace in Cabo Delgado), which depicts a smiling girl in the middle of Mozambique’s devastated Cabo Delgado province.
Third prize went to Jorge Bacelar for his photograph Momento de descanso, which reflects the life of a farmer in Salreu, Portugal, with his cows and dogs. Three honourable mentions were also awarded to João Galamba, from Portugal, Milton Ostetto, from Brazil, and Raphael Alves, from Brazil, for their photographs highlighting traditional festivals, artisanal fishing and the effects of drought in the Amazon basin, respectively.
The exhibition, which was supported by the Macau Government’s Culture Development Fund, not only featured the winning photographs, but also around four dozen others selected by the jury for their relevance and value in representing the cultural dimensions of Lusophony.
With this exhibition, Somos – ACLP aims to promote communication in Portuguese and foster a deeper understanding of the Lusophone world, especially the traditions and characteristics of Lusophony. At the same time, Somos wants to emphasise Macau’s role as a platform for unity between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries/regions.
