MIGUEL DE

Perhaps a few remember Miguel De was there in a third magazine of Pineapple and earlier on the website as well (link here). Now he is applying with a new project, he is preparing to publish his first book. Let’s scroll down and take a look. I’ve already ordered my own copy, but I don’t think you want to miss it either!

About the series

Between 2017 and 2019, I got in the habit of getting in my car and driving around the country quite often. I wanted to explore Portugal, meet new people and new places, I wanted to escape my own loneliness with movement, the road passing under my car. I took my 35mm camera with me and looked for landscapes that attracted me, places that caught my attention, people that captured my interest. And I photographed them. I photographed the sea, I photographed the land, I photographed the cities and the streets, I photographed the faces and the bodies, the bodies dressed and naked, standing and moving. I let myself overcome my difficulty in talking to strangers and they stopped being so. They opened up to my camera, to my gaze, they let themselves be photographed, explored by representation, tempted by desire. And while looking for the other and more, I would like to say that I had found myself; but I don’t think that happened. It took two more years to realize that, I had to find myself to realize that it hadn’t happened yet. In that sense, I looked back at the images I took in those years and selected the ones that best communicated that search, the melancholy of exploration, of self-knowledge, of the bodies of others towards my own body and my own identity. A collection of images in which I seek in bodies to know a body, my body.

Entre 2017 e 2019, tomei o hábito de pegar no meu carro e conduzir pelo país fora com uma certa frequência. Queria explorar Portugal, conhecer novas pessoas e novos sítios, queria escapar a minha própria solidão com o movimento, a estrada a passar por debaixo do meu carro. Levei a minha câmara fotográfica 35mm comigo e procurei paisagens que me atraíam, lugares que me chamavam a atenção, pessoas que me despertavam o interesse. E fotografei-os. Fotografei o mar, fotografei a terra, fotografei as cidades e as ruas, fotografei os rostos e os corpos, os corpos vestidos e despidos, parados e em movimento. Deixei-me vencer a minha dificuldade em falar com estranhos e deixaram de o ser. Abriram-se para a minha câmara, para o meu olhar, deixaram-se ser fotografados, explorados pela representação, tentados pelo desejo. E durante a procura do outro e de mais, gostava de dizer que me tinha encontrado a mim próprio; mas acho que isso não aconteceu. Foram precisos mais dois anos para perceber isso, foi preciso encontrar-me para perceber que isso ainda não tinha acontecido. Nesse sentido, olhei para trás, para as imagens que fiz nesses anos e seleccionei as que melhor comunicavam essa procura, a melancolia da exploração, do autoconhecimento, dos corpos dos outros em direcção ao meu corpo e à minha identidade. Uma colecção de imagens em que procuro nos corpos conhecer um corpo, o meu corpo.

About the book

Releasing this series as a book was the way I found to put this work in the hands of people, beyond digital and social networks. I believe in the power of the physical object as a means of appreciating art, so it seemed evident that the next step in having a series ready would be to publish it. The construction of this book started by going back to my archive to find an intentional narrative line that permeated the photographs taken during that time. Among more than two thousand photographs, the choice fell to about fifty, which communicated a melancholic idea of the search for my identity through the bodies and places I have experienced. Because making and releasing a book is not an easy (or cheap) endeavour, I decided to let my followers help me make it real, through crowdfunding. Until the end of March, anyone who wants to help me can get a copy, some prints or even a very limited special edition.

Este livro é a forma que encontrei de colocar este trabalho nas tuas mãos, para lá do digital e das redes sociais. Acredito no poder do objecto físico enquanto meio de apreciação da arte, pelo que me pareceu evidente que o passo seguinte a ter uma série pronta seria publicá-la. Para isso, conto contigo e a tua contribuição neste crowdfunding. Todos os livros e prints adquiridos serão feitos e entregues mesmo se não atingirmos o objectivo deste crowdfunding, portanto não existe o risco de não teres o teu exemplar garantido.