What happens when we bring the act of photographing our surroundings into our routine for the first time?

NARRATIVA, in partnership with Residência Santa Joana Princesa, developed a project in which it was proposed to six of its residents that they photograph their daily lives over the course of a month, with the assistance of photographer and director of NARRATIVA, Mário Cruz.

More than a communication tool, the six users of this home located in the parish of Alvalade found in photography the starting point to carry out an observation exercise that allowed them to develop a cohesive and emotional body of work about those who live and work at Residência Santa Joana Princesa.

For NARRATIVA, the mission of democratizing photography in Portugal is only put into practice with socially responsible initiatives like this one: for some users it was their first contact with photography and the creation of visual narratives; for others it was a reunion with an environment they didn't expect to have at their current stage of life.

Overall, it was a project that contributed to the development of a new stimulus for all users and the creation or strengthening of human bonds between participants and workers at this institution.

NARRATIVA chose to present the work developed in the format of a newspaper that condenses six distinct visions, acting as an object that contributes to the preservation of the physical and identity memory of a place that is also home to many others.

80 newspapers were offered to all residents as well as a camera so they could continue documenting their daily lives.

About the authors:

Eron Conde Vitória, 60 years old, car painter;
Graciela Nogueira, 80 years old, civil servant;
João Pedro Duarte Graça Almeida, 60 years old, clerk at an insurance company;
Manuel Joaquim Gonçalves dos Reis, 66 years old, gas station attendant;
Maria Helena Pessoa, 82 years old , social worker;
Victor Godefroy, 92, business manager.

The project was developed with the support of Instax.