It is a process of importance to me, getting to know the place where i live, exploring layer after layer towards a level of actual familiarity.

A key achievement in this project, touching the sking of a city is an ebook in which i present images of urban surfaces that express my growing sense of intimacy with the city of Lisbon.

These images represent the urban surface. You can’t see beyond the surface, but touching it (or seeing it in the case of photography: touching with the eyes) takes you further into — the encounter, the exploration, the understanding. Like touching the skin of a human being, in a sense: intentional or accidental, it is a contact that will not be unnoticed. The surface takes you beyond the surface. This is, i think, what i’m trying to investigate with this project: what is this city, really?

skin is the surface that takes you beyond the surface

touching someone’s skin is an act of communication

there are no words

you might get it wrong

it can be subtle

you might not notice all that passes

shaking hands

you form an idea about their nature or their current emotional state

there are contacts that cause confusion

like a sudden excess of information that momentarily drowns your mental system

and there are massages that comfort the whole being

skin is a narrative fabric where lines and wrinkles tell of age

scars of past battles

tan and makeup of lifestyle

tattoos of hopes and dreams

skin is information

skin is transmission

skin is intimacy

this project began when i touched the skin of the city with the camera

i have walked beyond the hotspots

the obvious beauty

the picturesque flows of the ‘gram

i have walked beyond love at first sight

seeing the surface of the city

touching the skin of the city

seeing the urban surface is similar to touching skin

i see that i have entered into a deeper learning

i see that i have reached a deeper understanding

i see that i have achieved a deeper intimacy with the city