Image © Jose 2025
Not sure this is a big assumption, but I’d say we all carry with us a mix of photos and art wherever we go. In an age where everything is digital and online, I believe we all have some photos framed and some art that is usually personal. I’m talking about real human beings, not the art collectors/curators/hoarders. But I am seriously wondering if this is a big assumption.
I’ve seen both extremes: the walls plastered with family photos, photos on every shelf, and even on the refrigerator. And I’ve seen no photos at all. I’ve seen that one painting that says it all. I’ve seen a mixed bag of sizes and mediums, grown like hedera without rhyme or reason. And I’ve seen a lot of prints, and some originals.
I say I’ve seen because, I don’t know about you, but when I visit someone’s house, I pay special attention to these two categories: photos and art. Knowing some photos are art, and some art is really just a ‘photo’ of the art. This is as personal as it gets. Photos are moments in time, usually less artistic than memorable, when attached to a storyline. The art? Sometimes personal, sometimes by a family member, sometimes an original, sometimes a print – but all the time a choice, a statement, a place and a time in the journey.
This house came with both photos and art. The photos are mostly black & white enlargements of smaller photos into a slightly bigger letter format. They depict different stages of the house. In some cases, there are people in them, there’s a convertible in one. The art is part original sketchings from the previous owner, who was a sculptor, part three-dimensional pieces made of resin and stone. There are a few prints from people he admired, and of places he might have visited, mostly art museums. We are lucky to have these. They are part of the history of this house, and we will find a place for them.
Then I have my photos and art. The photos range from me sitting down proper between my parents in a sepia photo (I was probably 10), to my daughter making faces. No photos of places, just people that matter to me. Some of them are somewhere else, looking over me. Some will hopefully outlive me and will have photos of me on their walls.
The art is a mixed bag: some stuff I did as a designer with an artistic inclination (but no true education as such), some stuff I have bought from my friends who are true bona fide artists. Like the oil triptych of Lisbon rooftops by my good friend Gonçalo Van Zeller (thirty years ago cost me twice my monthly salary). The art I bought at the Ramblas in Barcelona by my good friend Ramiro Clemente. Or the art from my friend Paulo Borges who started out as a designer but over time, shed that skin and emerged as something else entirely, and that large woman with uneven boobs from Delia Carvalho. I also have some art I buy for causes that I support, not as an investment in the art itself, but in the mission.
And then my wife has a large number of paintings done by her mother, who has since passed away. This remarkable woman, after bearing and raising daughters and grandchildren, started painting in her 50s, after immigrating to the US in the 90s. She had no formal training or art education, she simply started drawing and painting on her own. Her talent was evident early on, often sketching animals for her children when they were young. Encouraged by family interest, she began copying well-known artworks such as Van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night and Klimt’s The Kiss, enlarging or reducing them by eye. Her method was intuitive and self-taught, using prints for reference and experimenting with materials like oils and acrylics without formal instruction. Over roughly 20 years, she painted numerous pieces, many of which are still held by family members, we have a pretty good collection ourselves.
The last house we were in was so small we decided not to put up any of the photos or art, so it was safely kept under wraps in the basement. We are now finally able to bring them out, join the photos and paintings this house offered us, and create this great mélange that personifies the choices and the legacies we carry with us. All of these artifacts are a touchpoint in our journey. They don’t all go together in some organized and curated way; they merge in a natural and organic way, like humans when we need to share the same spaces. It’s going to be fun!
https://www.instagram.com/ramiroclemente
https://www.instagram.com/deliadecarvalho
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