Inner place
A contemplative reading
Continuing my series of constructed images inspired by the poems of Fernando Pessoa, I embarked on an imaginative journey to explore the depths of his poem Conselho, which means Advice.
The poem Conselho invites contemplation. It was an extraordinary experience to transfer the message of this poem, recreated in my imagination.
We often draw upon our knowledge as we interpret the information around us and even reconnect with our memory through what we see. Photographer Sebastião Salgado said, "You don't photograph with your camera. You photograph with all your culture."
After reading the poem several times, I entered a state of contemplation to decode its complexity and, at the same time, develop my interpretation. To create a series of visual narratives, I used photos from my psychogeographic explorations in Portugal. For this time, I created three images to o encompass the entire message of the poem. Here is a transcription of the verses in my interpretation. Pessoa describes a space like a garden, isolated from the world, surrounded by high walls, and located behind a locked gate. It is a garden where the soul has planted flowers that grow and bloom in silence. A place unseen by others, where a double of that being lives. There is nothing to say, the place is so poor that no one looks at it, it is nothing more than an unvisited garden.
Behind that wall
In the midst of the silence
The inner guardian
The artistic act requires emotional involvement from conception to the communication of the message created. Images, like verses, convey complex information and evoke emotions. Pessoa's poetry challenged me to construct the story of a space contemplating the inner space, letting my mind slip into dreaming. I built that space with every verse I've read. Somehow, everything was gradually revealed to me, and I discovered that the place was always there, so I just had to look at it.