Portuguese Photography Centre - Last full day in Porto

Saturday October 14 was very warm and sunny-- a high of 28C.  We headed downtown passing two guys spray painting a graffiti wall.

New graffiti wall- being filmed as we walked by

At the end of the pedestrian street a small Saturday market was on.  It featured very good craftspeople and a common display look.  We bought some colourful works of Porto scenes and had them signed by the artist.

Large versions of the prints that we bought

We turned the corner and decided to have a coffee at Café Progresso, the oldest café in Porto.  Very good coffee roasted on site.  Coffee is a must in Portugal.  It is very good and amongst the most reasonable in Europe.  We had two macchiatos and one espresso for 2.40 euros in a very nice setting.

Café Progresso

Alain with his macchiato (pingo in Porto)

Building next door with colourful mural

Our destination for the afternoon was the Centro Português de Fotografia (Portuguese Centre of Photography), but it didn't open until 3:00 p.m.  We decided to wander in the narrow medieval streets behind the gallery.  This area used to be the old Jewish quarter in the 14th century when Jews made up a third of Porto's population.  Their numbers dwindled to just 1% after the Inquisition.   The doors with bronze hamsa (protective hand) door knockers are signs of Jewish heritage.

We missed it, but according to our guidebook there is a sign in front of a former monastery built on former Jewish ground in the 16th century that apologizes for the expulsion of the Jews in 1496.

Protective door knocker

Flowers in narrow street

Ancient doorway

More narrow streets in old quarter

View of church

Another door knocker

Graffiti

Bird on top of a wall with lemon tree and flowers

Alain with view of Sé Cathedral in background

Grace and I

Another photo with Cathedral in the distance

View of the bridge we walked over on Friday

More colourful graffiti with cool cats

We walked down to the Palacio da Bolsa, the old stock exchange.  Unfortunately, one could only see the inside with a tour and they were all sold out for the day.

Outside of the Palacio da Bolsa

Statue in park across from the Bolsa

We could peer into the library just off the entrance to the Bolsa

We walked back past a large mansion (Palacio de Belmonte) that used to house one family.

Built in the first half of the 18th century as the home of an aristocratic family

It was time for a late lunch.  We ended up at a place called Brick.  Alain and Grace had a delicious chicken and avocado sandwich and I had a vegetarian sandwich.  The service was very slow as there was a tiny kitchen and everything was made from scratch, but the food was very good.

Alain and Grace with their lunch

My vegetarian sandwich on beautiful bread- with pineapple and salad

As it was now after 3:00, we headed over to the Portuguese Photographic Centre, which is housed in a former prison.  It was built in1767 and was both a prison and a court of appeal.  With the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, it ceased to be a prison.  It was restored as the Photography Centre in 1997 and it hosts a number of photography exhibits each year along with a permanent exhibit. Admission is free.

The exhibit we saw was entitled The Portuguese Prison Photo Project and it featured the work of two photographers, Luis Barbosa (b. 1975 in Porto), who was filming in prisons for the first time, and Peter Schulthess (b.1966 in Basel), a Swiss photographer, who had photographed a number of prisons  in other parts of Europe over the past 15 years, although this was his first time in Portuguese prisons.

Outside of the former prison, now the Portuguese Photography Centre

Entrance to Centre-- the restoration work is superb

Another view-- many of the prison's features remain intact

Luis Barbosa's pictures were all in black and white and were more emotional-- images of light and dark, some with people and others not.  Peter Schulthess's work was all in colour and his pictures were a more detailed examination of the architecture of prisons.  The project was conceived by Daniel Fink, a lecturer on prison history at the University of Lausanne, who had visited the Centre in Porto and developed the idea of an exhibit of Portuguese prisons in the former prison.  There was also a conference entitled "Prisons in Portugal and Europe: History, Culture and Photography" held at the University of Porto on October 12 and 13. Barbosa and Schulthess participated in the conference.

The two photographers who did not know each other had access to a number of Portuguese prisons, some of which were very old, and one modern prison built in 2004.

Luis Barbosa, EP de Viseu, A window of the prison, seen from outside

On the left, a picture of the guard by Barbosa, on the right a picture of the guards by Schulthess

We were extremely lucky that Peter Schulthess was in Porto and was just starting a guided tour in English.  Luis Barbosa was also in attendance and was giving a talk later.

Schulthess with papers, Barbosa behind him with satchel

Explaining that there were no trees or grass near near one of the older prisons

Schulthess explained that this was his favourite picture of Barbosa's as it dealt with
all aspects of a prisoner's experience

With picture of oldest prison in front of his picture of a cell from that prison

Explaining his pictures of daily life in a prison

The average sentence in Portuguese prisons is much longer than elsewhere in Europe and there are also fewer guards per prisoners than in other countries.  Both photographers dealt well with issues of monotony, isolations and the lack of personal space.  Having gone to law school in Kingston and visited the old Prison for Women many times both as part of the Correctional Law Program and through the Kingston Women's Centre, the pictures captured many scenes I was familiar with.  I got to know a number of women who were in for drug trafficking and who were out on day parole during my third year of law school.

Barbosa photographing Schulthess

After the tour, we explored the rest of the Centre- it has three floors with the top floor displaying old cameras, including spy cameras.

View through the barred windows

Alain through a large prison door on the third floor

Poster in front entrance noting 150 years since the abolition of the death penalty

Monument near the Photography Centre

As it was just after 6:00 p.m., we headed back to our apartment to rest before dinner.  We passed the graffiti artists who was still working.

Nearing completion at about 6:00 p.m.

I would recommend our apartment to anyone travelling to Porto.  Very clean, comfortable, well-equipped and walkable to everywhere, but out of the busiest tourist area.

The outside of our apartment (dark green door)-- renovated beautifully inside- wood floors and new lights and paint job

We went to dinner at 8:00 at Cruel, a place recommended by our host, Ricardo and which featured new Portuguese cooking.  The menu had three parts-- Cruel (most innovative), Cautious, and Fearful.  One could pick dishes from any part of the menu.  The dishes built on traditional Portuguese food, but with a new spin.

Cruel's menu-Life can be Cruel, Eat and forget it!!

We started with a plate of duck with crispy onions and apricot sauce.

Duck with onions and apricot sauce

Then a lovely salad of thinly sliced zucchini, arugula and sun-dried tomatoes.

Salad

We then shared two main courses.

Pork cheeks with potatoes

Gorgeous codfish with ham, onions, and potatos

The portions are very generous in Portugal.  For dessert Alain and Grace shared a rhubarb crumble with "magic" strawberry cotton candy.  As soon as one went to eat the "cotton candy " it vanished.  The dessert was very good.

Grace with dessert

The street corner and the street we walked along to get back to the pedestrian street which leads us to our apartment was very busy.  Lots of folks out- the temperature was still around 25C at 10:00 p.m.

Street corner just up from restaurant

We passed Billy Holiday on the pedestrian street

Our last photo of the day was the finished and tagged graffiti on the wall.

Graffiti at 10:00 p.m.

Saturday was our last full day in Porto-- we take the train to Lisbon at around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday and arrive at 4:00 p.m.   See you in Lisbon!!