DIFFERENT STREET ART BY A SCOTTISH PHOTOGRAPHER

A few weeks ago, I visited for my first time, Mouraria district, one of the old neighbourhoods, a maze of medieval alleyways, where I had heard I could see street art with difference. Rather than spray painted, a Scottish artist used photography. 'Tribute' is a series of portraits of elderly residents, printed on the walls of a narrow street where they live. Her exhibits have proved popular with locals and visitors and will remain in place until the day the inclement weather takes them away. 

Mouraria is one of the traditional neighborhoods, with a location turning its back on the river, without any sun most of the day, which contributed for the underground activities and bohemian life that generated a stigma of insecurity that nowadays is gradually disappearing. The structural weakness of the buildings, and the gloomy feel of petty crime have been until now discouraging real estate speculation. I noticed no intrusion of new, trendy clubs, except a spaghetti restaurant. 

The English artist's photo collection on the walls is a lovely dedication to the elderly that have made the area their home for any decades. It's through them that the narrow streets and winding lanes have such a strong sense of community.

This traditional quarter is also home to Camilla Watson's photographic studio, located in a small charming square, where she also has her cozy apartment in an old building.

I was very lucky as while I was breathing that atmosphere, I saw Camilla  and didn't hesitate to make an approach and ask permission to take a photo of her. She promptly accepted my request!

Don Quijote, Camilla's dog, has enough space to enjoy his daily outings

Not far away from Camilla's place, the painter and anthropologist Lorenzo Bordonaro has decorated some of the streets with artistic compositions revolving around keys and locks that have lain abandoned for over 20 years. It is a kind of everyday archaeology: Bordonaro has also rescued plates, spoons, and glass bottles from a disused local factory, and with them managed to save entire walls of this rundown district.

He had found some of the objects in lockers abandoned by a factory workers. Don't you think it's unsettling to learn that they were everyday objects that were used on a daily basis? 

Who used them? When?

Street art, which occurring away from the museums,
 goes in search of its public instead of waiting for them to come to it. 

As I'm leaving tomorrow for a long weekend down in the south, I take this opportunity to wish you a very nice weekend!

Meanwhile, enjoy the slideshow ...