Between 1995 and 1999, during the summer months, I traveled periodically to Portugal, working as a sound engineer for an Italian entertainment company that organized an important music festival called Sete Sóis Sete Luas.
We traveled extensively, and the festival was extremely demanding, but on days off from the concerts, I would set off again — this time to capture with my camera the things I had seen along the way and found particularly interesting.
I was drawn to the landscapes and the people, their customs and traditions; at that time, Portugal evoked memories of Italy in the 1950s: a mosaic of towns and small cities reminiscent of southern Italy, with endless stretches of cork trees, whitewashed houses, and the indelible traces left by ancient peoples, from the Romans to the Arabs.
In addition to the unspoiled landscapes, there were cities like Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto, Braga, and Fátima, as well as coastal areas full of characters and unique scenes that caught my eye and ignited my desire to preserve those moments, those images.
In these seven galleries, I have gathered a selection of the most meaningful photographs from that period — a kind of archive divided by themes: village festivals, bullfights, Roma children, and various places that left an indelible mark on my memory.
