Existential Divide

"Life is made of so many potential paths. Choose wisely, and never forget to leave some space for the soul to breathe..."

This photo is part of the unrepeatable“Floating Above the Sea - Memories of a Unique Place" series.

Story: An image from the unique palafite pier in Portugal, one of the few remaining palafite constructions in the world, used by Portuguese fishermen to keep their boats anchored.

The Carrasqueira pier has hundreds of meters of extension, swirling and branching above the sea, creating remarkable compositions during sunset.

This is a place filled with memories, history, symbolism and so much beauty. Progressively changing with sea erosion, each image is unrepeatable. As the sea slowly degrades the wood structures, every now and then some of the branches disappear into the sea, including the iconic final part, where the end of the pier branches into two distinct paths, with the right one being virtually non-existent nowadays. Quite often different types of wood planks are used to replace the old ones, so this is an ever changing dynamic structure.

There is an overall consensus that the pier reached its most interesting aesthetic appeal from 2013 till 2018, the period during which these images were made. Coincidentally, this place became world famous after 2018, being since then usually crowded at sunset with dozens of photographers competing for the scarce available space. I feel fortunate to having witnessed and photographed it in pure "silence" and freedom during its "golden age"

This is an NFT of one my most iconic set of photos, showing a truly unique place, shot during a unique moment of time.

Technique: 30 seconds single long exposure technique, creating a strong effect based on the contrast between the smoothness of the sea and the rugged textures of the pier.

Collector will get a large format print of this image upon request. In case the collector visits beautiful Portugal in the future, I will make sure to arrange a trip to this place along with me.