In 2021/2022, selecting a photograph from a private collection served as a starting point for creating a photographic series. Students worked with personal and family photographs and were challenged to reflect on how memory is evoked, preserved, and reactivated through these images, transforming them into new visual interpretations.
The project “Casa das Águas”, by Francisco Oliveira, was developed during the pandemic when leaving the house was a challenge. The work began with a search on Google Maps, during which the student could not precisely locate the source of the Cáster River, finding only known information about its origin in Sanfins. Without exact coordinates, Francisco relied on the help of Alberto Tavares, known as “Mr. Alberto,” who accompanied him in exploring the forests of Sanfins. Together, they found the springs of Vergado and Santo Aleixo, which is the point where they converge to form the Cáster River. Francisco’s photographic sequence documents this journey, culminating at the Casa das Águas, the former distribution centre of the Cáster River, which supplied Santa Maria da Feira.
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Faculty of Enginering of the University of Porto