Camilla Watson photography and its impact in the social production of public space in a neigbourhood (Mouraria) in the inner city of Lisbon

UID/SOC/04647/2013 SFRH/BD/75760/2011This research analyses to extent to which the photographic work of Camilla Watson has affected the social production of space in a district of the historical part of Lisbon. This particular public-art-in-place exhibits the elderly residents through pictures displayed in the neighbourhood's public spaces. In a context of transformations that the territory is undergoing, the analysis aims yo understand how far it contributes to change the way the area is socially produced in terms of spatial practice, representational space and representation of space. Two kinds of experiences were considered; that of the resident and the visitor, meaning two groups that perceive, conceive and live the place in very different ways. Based on the information from outside the neighbourhood as well as from residents involved in the project, the intention is to capture two different constructed realities and to compare the way the work is understood and felt in those contexts. For the residents the artistic work has been accepted, approved and appropriated because it became part of their daily routine environment. From an external point of view, the analysed art project binds the old quarter with the new one. By being part of the new creative scene it links the new visitors with the longstanding residents, helping to redifene the way locals are perceived and how the area is experienced.publishersversionpublishe