As you know, I'm passionate about the vintage pictures translating the Portuguese life in the past century. One of my favourite photographer is in fact Artur Pastor.
When I launched Luz Editions, it was in part because I wanted to share his images with the world. I also wanted to remind everyone how much life is a circle and we learn from our ancestors. For that, I created my wall hanging/tea towel, using screen printing to reproduce the images.
My next step was to develop an Art Gallery in my shop, giving a different approach of the images and turning them into a more contemporary piece of art.
Creating around works of art made by someone else is no easy task. First of all, your main concern is to be faithful to the original and the autor.
Coming from the photography field, I keep in mind the legal rights and I respect the framework and the quality of each photography with which I work.
When I embark on a new project, I also realize that I benefit from the association with other creatives who bring fresh eyes and new ideas to each of my projects. It is therefore my pleasure to introduce you to the duo behind Pink Mosaik: Jeanne and Paul.
Hi Jeanne, can you describe Pink Mosaik?
Pink Mosaïk is Jeanne and Paul, a Franco-Portuguese couple. Paul, the Portuguese is a photographer and I, the French one, am a graphic designer, illustrator. Together we create posters and T-shirts that we print in our workshop in Lisbon. We are as passionate about design as we are about printing.
Pink Mosaïk was born out of the desire to both work together and to pool our skills and experiences. We are complementary and this is our strength!
How do you work and divide the tasks?
Paul is the team photographer, he has the technical skills that I don't have! As for me, maybe I'm more of the artist in the band, although that's a big word! Due to my artistic training, I have approach a bit of everything. I appreciate all the mediums at my disposal: gouache, acrylic, watercolor, ink, pencil, charcoal... I like to experiment and discover new things. We are in the process of equipping ourselves to print our T-shirts ourselves in screen printing, it's exciting! We like to be autonomous and to be able to control our productions from start to finish. We thus create our images and print them on demand!
What are your inspirations?
It's difficult to talk about my inspirations because they are multiple and varied. I find beauty and interest in all artistic movements and in what is not artistic too! To inspire myself what I prefer is going for a walk, strolling aimlessly and for that, Lisbon is a fabulous city, full of alleys, passages. It is a real pleasure to explore its many neighborhoods!
What is your link with Lisbon and what do you get out of this assignment?
We came to settle here for the mild climate and the sweetness of life. We are not disappointed ! People here take the time to live, to enjoy. It's so nice to be able to work and to have the feeling of always being on vacation a bit too!
What I really appreciate about the Portuguese is their love and attachment to their country, to their roots. Whether they live in Portugal or abroad, they always have this very strong bond that unites them to their land. I didn't know Arthur Pastor's work but that's what I find in these pictures, I find it very beautiful and very touching. His photos mean a lot to me because they tell moments in life, they bear witness to a past that will irreparably disappear and therefore we are all a little nostalgic!
What was your approach for this project and what is your favourite print?
I enjoyed working with Arthur Pastor's photographs and dressing them up to make those arty prints. They have the first role, I only came to offer them a framework in order to enhance them!
If I had to choose just one I would choose the one where we see two children on the dock watching a fishing boat in the mist. This photo reminds me of travels. She makes me dream, I am like these children when I look at it, it takes me on a motionless journey!
