Casa da Arquitectura hosts the premiere of a documentary. Admission is free
The life and work of Luis Ferreira Alves, a photographer noted for his work in architectural photography who died last year, will be addressed in the documentary "Luis Ferreira Alves: A Constructed Look".
The film will be shown on RTP 2 on January 26, but its preview is scheduled for next Saturday, January 21, at Casa da Aquitectura.
The screening is scheduled for 4:30 pm. Admission is free.
Born in Valadares, Vila Nova de Gaia, in 1938, Luís Ferreira Alves was passionate about cinema, having been an active member of the Oporto Film Society in the 1950s and co-founder of the Reduced Format and Experimental Cinema Section. He was part of the team that made the documentary "Auto da Floripes".
In 1962, he was arrested by the PIDE and judged in the Oporto Court, and was forcibly removed from the Ferreira Alves & Pinto Leite Bank where he worked with his father until then. He then carried out a variety of commercial activities that left him little time for his personal projects.
In the early 1980s he resumed, as an amateur, an intense photographic activity. He presented at Árvore the exhibition "Scene Photography", in collaboration with Gabriela Ribeiro about independent theater, where he also later exhibited a large series of images subordinated to the theme of urban destruction of the city of Oporto - "In search of the lost color".
In 1983, he was invited by his architect friend Pedro Ramalho to present a slide show on his architectural work at a seminar at the Escola Superior de Belas Artes in Oporto. This was the starting point for his activity as a professional photographer. He specialized in photography of architecture, heritage and territory, having been published regularly in magazines around the world. He collaborated closely with architects of the so-called Porto School, namely Eduardo Souto Moura.
Director of architectural and cultural videos, he edited dozens of books and held numerous exhibitions, some of them in co-authorship, inside and outside the country.
Of the works he has portrayed, highlight goes to the record of the Real Vinícola, in Matosinhos, from its state in ruins, through its rehabilitation under the responsibility of the municipality, to its transformation into the Casa da Arquitectura - Centro Português de Arquitectura.
In 2018, the Matosinhos City Council edited the book and promoted the exhibition "Real Vinícola Uma Reconversão", at the Galeria Municipal de Matosinhos, curated by the architect Guilherme Machado Vaz.
Last year, at the Casa da Arquitectura, he presented the book and the exhibition "Peroguarda 58/59: Photographs". With an exhibition project by Eduardo Souto de Moura, the exhibition included 37 photographs taken by the young Luís Ferreira Alves in the Alentejo town of Peroguarda, in the years 58 and 59 of the last century.
In November 2021, the photographer donated all his estate to Casa da Arquitectura.
As for distinctions, he was awarded the title of Honorary Member of the Order of Architects (2013) and the Municipal Medal of Merit - Gold Grade by the City Council of Porto (2015).
On October 31, 2021, he received from the hands of the then Minister of Culture, Graça Fonseca, the Medal of Cultural Merit, in a ceremony held at the Casa da Arquitectura. He passed away on July 10, 2022.
After the screening of the documentary, there will be a conversation about the work and the person of Luis Ferreira Alves. Moderated by architect Joana Azevedo, the conversation will include Teresa Paixão, Director of RTP2, Ricardo Gonçalves, director of the documentary, Victor Neves, author of the documentary, and Pedro Leão Neto, researcher in architecture communication and photography.