Document and discourse: on the surveys (to the phtograpy and the territory)

Abstract

The exhibition “Surveys in the Territory: landscape and settlement” (Plataforma das Artes e da Criatividade, Guimarães, October 2015 - February 2016) brought together a series of photographs from projects of different kinds, dedicated to Portuguese territory: from the scientific expedition to Serra da Estrela in 1881, to the work of contemporary photographers such as Paulo Catrica, Válter Vinagre or André Príncipe (among others), and including a set of research projects from the middle of the 20th century that used photography as a method of recording their fieldwork (Orlando Ribeiro, Ethnol- ogy Studies Center, Survey of Regional Architecture). Considering the objects brought together in that context, this text seeks to ques- tion in what way did the diversification of the photographic prac- tices that took place in contemporary Portugal have been related to the interest in contemplating, studying and thinking about the national territory.