Photographic series from a trip to Porto, Portugal in 2006. The winding, tall, narrow streets led me to photograph the town at different levels of detail depending on the size of the enclosed area, first in monochrome to emphasise the depth of field, with specific subjects such as the Clérigos Church, but later colour to show the highly saturated scenes Porto has to offer, such as the blue Azulejo-covered buildings to the orange rooflines.

The Dom Luís I Bridge featured as a landmark in most of the photos as the dominant feature of the town, along with the Douro River, which hopefully provides a sense of scale between photographs.

What made Porto really interesting for me was the level of dereliction in parts of the historic centre, such as Vila Nova de Gaia, south of the Douro River. Where other coultures would attempt to restore or replace the buildings, these are left to crumble, creating a very honest atmosphere. When I visited I could already see the signs of tourism on the north bank from the previous few years, with bars and cafés ripping out original stone and renovating the interior to cater for the tourism business. Hopefully the UNESCO site will survive this growth.

Porto Pavement

Pavement detailing typical of the city, in some intances road markings are also done in this style.

Porto Headlights

Run down buildings near the then recently completed Casa da Música by Rem Koolhaas. Car headlights reflect on the wet road.

Porto Old and New

Run down buildings near the then recently completed Casa da Música by Rem Koolhaas.

Azulejo Church

Azulejo covered church.

Porto Cathedral

Organic urban plan follows the line of the topography, causing winding, narrow streets. Oporto Cathedral visible in the distance.

Porto Demolition

Falling walls at a demolition site

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Intersting junction, with a split view of the Duoro river along two routes.

D. Luís I Bridge

Panorama showing D. Luís Iron Bridge viewed from north bank of the Douro, with clouds approaching.

D. Luís I Iron Bridge

Lattice work of the D. Luís I Bridge, connecting Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, designed by Teófilo Seyrig, a partner of Gustavo Eiffel.

Porto Boat

Narrow framed view of the Douro.

Porto Cats

Cats relax in the sun, with a view of the Douro.

Porto Alley

Dom Luís I bridge dominates the sky. In some places houses actually touch the bridge.

Porto Colours

Buildings painted in bright colours, distinguishing different plans.

Porto Narrow Alley

Narrow alley way in Porto

Porto Dalmation

Dalmation dog searching for scraps in the street

Fiat Grande Punto

A Fiat Grande Punto parked in front of an old fountain. The owner managed to park nearly in the middle of this shot, making a great composition.

Clérigos Church

View of the Clérigos Church, amazing baroque church designed by Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni, completed 1750.

Porto Dereliction

Run down building in the centre of Porto

Porto Cobbles

Cobbled street at night.

Porto Park Bench

Solitary figure in the park by the Casa di Musica with an interesting foreground texture created by the seeds on the ground.

Porto Clouds

Menacing clouds hiding the sun.

Porto Roofs

Buildings fit the angled streets perfectly with their footprint. (this photo is not distorted!)

Porto - Duoro Panorama

Wide panorama of Porto from Vila Nova de Gaia, looking from the Dom Luís I Bridge on the right, across the Douro river and to the Arrabida bridge in the distance.

Peugeot 404

Peugeot 404 Estate in front of the south end of the D. Luís I Iron Bridge.

Porto Bar Renovation

Barman renovates his bar, dumping old rumble outside, possibly adapting the venue to orientate it towards the tourism market.

Duoro at Night

Panorama showing Douro at night, with reflections of the streets.

Barcas Bridge Memorial

Memorial of the 1809 Barcas Bridge collapse, a relief by sculptor Teixeira Lopes. The candles are kept burning by the local population.

Uplit Bridge

Architectural elements added to the base of the Luís I bridge, lit with differently coloured lights.

Porto Park

View from the Casa da Música by Rem Koolhaas of the adjacent park.