This was taken while we were walking around Lisbon in September, 2001. I always try to make sure to check out the less-travelled paths of the cities that I visit. For some reason the flavour of photographs in these areas is always more rich than the taste of main thoroughfares. This photograph shows a set of stairs that are most likely hundreds of years old (if not older). Note the laundry hanging everywhere and the kids playing Nintendo. Nothing like mixing the old and the new.
There’s something to be said about stairs that were probably carved hundreds of years ago now playing host to kids dressed in modern clothes, playing Gameboy. The icing would be the trappings of modern domestic life hanging everywhere (laundry). We make the most out of where we are, it seems. Is it a sign of disrespect that we do this? I would like to think that it is an homage to our origins. We find new and interesting uses for things made in the past.
Culture is the same way. We use things that resonate with our souls. Phrases, clothing, ways of living. It doesn’t matter much whether they are from our own land or from the land of others. It is all part of the process of how the world is slowly growing and evolving together.
f/8.0 1/125 sec 100mm
