Tag Archives: buildings

Woman With Blue Bags, Alfama

Woman With Blue Bags, Alfama
“Woman With Blue Bags, Alfama” — A woman carrying heavy blue bags walks along past weathered buildings along a curving Alfama street, Lisbon.

This photograph is a result of one of the quick, unexpected encounters that occur when doing street photography. Sometimes they happen so fast that there is hardly time to photograph. This one was brief, but not so quick that I couldn’t make a couple of photographs.

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Travessa de Sâo Miguel

Travessa de Sâo Miguel
“Travessa de Sâo Miguel” — Narrow streets and tall buildings in Lisbon’s Alfama district.

This is another photograph from the Alfama district of Lisbon. The neighborhood is the original center of historic Lisbon, though it later became home to lower income people. It escaped the destruction from the 18th-century earthquake that leveled large portions of the city, so it retains the narrow lanes, steep hills, and older buildings of an earlier era.

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Alfama Rooftops

Alfama Rooftops
“Alfama Rooftops” — Looking down at the red-tiled roofs of the Alfama district, Lisbon.

Certain architectural features seem to characterize various cities. In Europe, from what I’ve seen, these include the materials available locally for construction, the types of roofs, and the color scheme. This view of the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon is a case in point — with mostly white-walled buildings and red-tiled roofs.

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Alfama Laundry

Alfama Laundry
“Alfama Laundry” — Laundry hung by entry door and stairs, Alfama.

I know. Laundry hanging above urban homes in foreign cities is more than a bit of a cliche. I’ll try to minimize it, but sometimes I cannot resist. Here it is really more about the wild range of colors in the photograph, from that laundry to the colorful overhead streamers above the lane, and the contrast with the other less-colorful surroundings.

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