“The wonders of everyday life are thrilling; no film director can capture the unexpected that one finds on the street.”

Robert Doisneau

The photographs we receive from different parts of the world confirm the statement made by the great photographer who celebrated black-and-white photography through his images. And it is always with emotion that we receive glimpses of lives unfolding on the great human stage that is the street, where people move about or pause: on pavements, in building lobbies, in stations and train carriages, in parks and gardens, in cafés, in museums, in churches, on a grand avenue or even in a narrow village street.

Mobile photography – captured and edited using mobile devices –

has facilitated the capture of unique and unrepeatable moments that occur in a time and space defined by clocks and geography. The discreet nature of the smartphone frees the photographer from the awkwardness caused by a standard camera. The street does not feel threatened by a device that everyone carries in their pocket, and so the photographer experiences a new freedom. Its invisibility allows the moment to be captured without disturbing it: a kiss, a nap, a cry, a knowing glance, a shout.

In Street Photography – which is not architectural photography – the most striking element is the human being, who may be present as a shadow or indistinct silhouette, almost a ghost, or manifestly integrated into a crowd, a group, or alone, lost in thought. The setting may vary, from cold and rugged places to warm and relaxed ones, but human lives are governed by the same needs that manifest themselves in the behaviours Street Photography portrays: resting, working, playing, eating, reading, praying, dancing, sleeping, laughing or crying...

It is this diverse world, coloured by differences and similarities, that most genuinely expresses Humanity.

Manuela Matos Monteiro

SHORTLIST

Aléxia Delorme | Adelaide Araújo | Alice WR | Ana Alvarenga | Ana Efe | Ana Mendes | Andréa Seligman | Antonieta Monteiro | Arlete Bonelli | Beth Freitas | Carla de Sousa | Carla Gaspar | Carolina Kzan | Chica Miranda | Eliza Badoiu | Eugénia Silva | Eunice Pais | Fatma Çelik | Francisca Salvado | Goreti Ferraz | Heather McAlister | Isa Cancela | Isbela Mota | Joana Nenu | Julieta Tetelbaum | Karine Menezes | Katarzina Weremko | Katie Ehrlich | Lauren Maganete | Leila Soares | Lúcia Melo | Luiza Lacava | Manuela Vaz | | Maria Faial | Martha Moreschi | Mary Rosenfeld | Mide Plácido | M Luís Resende | Nara Rosetto | Olímpia C . Branco | Paula Veloso | Pilvikki Kause | Raquel Lamares | Renata Caldas | Salomé Carvalho | Sofia Ferreira | Sofia Martins | Sofia Santos | Teresa dos Santos | Vanja Qvarfordt

IN PROJECTION

Abia Karim | Adriana Almeida | Alina Zaharia | Ana Matos | Ana Valente | Carmen Milhai | Caterina Heinmüller | Charli Huang | Cláudia Pinto | Claudia Ricciuti | Conceição Magalhães | Grace Ribeiro | Honi Graaff | Inês Manuel | Isa Cancela | Joana Costa | Joana Pinto | Julia Shuvchinskya | Julie Battistolo | Jurate Vaiciukaite | Katie Ehrlich | Lara Maia | Lara Plácido | Leonor Lapa | Luísa Rodrigues | Margarida Baptista | Maria Ribeiro | Nara Rosetto | Natacha Thiéry | Paulina Pidzik | Raquel Felgueiras | Rossana Mendes | Sandra Teixeira | Sílvia Montagnani |

Sofia Augusto | Sofia Goes | Teresa David | Teresa Teixeira

CREDITS

MIRA FORUM Directors: Manuela Matos Monteiro, João Lafuente

Communications: Manuela Matos Monteiro, Luísa Rosas da Silva

Assistant: Luísa Rosas da Silva