PORTUGAL

by Alois Fink ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1968

A collection of extraordinary photographs with brief text which celebrates the unique, remote and haunting grace of Portugal--scenery, architecture and, mainly, working people. Three barefoot crones, faces lined by hard work and weather, gossip at a seaside; two street musicians stride across a brilliantly patterned patio in a burst of gaiety: a solemn little girl bends over the intricacies of lace making. In his text, which includes an historical portrait, Alois Fink searches out the Portuguese character through the quality of saudade, or loneliness, which also implies a fatalism leading to both a sense of tragedy and an almost ""arrogant capacity for joy."" Such cavalier generalizations demand illustrations of poetic fancy and insight and these photographs do just that. This German import is a fine gift book, blessedly not oversized, in the Terra Magica series.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Hill & Wang

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION