The Viver Melhor Residents' Association in Beato was the work base for a team of 30 volunteers, including professional photographers, editors, post-production, hairdressers and make-up artists, who divided up the rooms that receive elderly people and children on a daily basis and transformed them, for one day, into two photography studios, a post-production room, a beauty salon and a meeting point for the residents of this neighborhood.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the corridors and studios, the coordinator, Amandine Bouillet, was proud that her association had been chosen this year by Help-Portrait.
An association that has existed since 2011 and which, in 2019, was given a social space that started out with various services aimed at the elderly and now has a broader activity for the whole community. With the help of three technicians, Amandine Bouillet explains that there is also an ATL for children and a recent project with a group of young people. There are 82 registered users, with 56 children enrolled this summer and 26 young people. The association also offers a range of services, including going to people's homes - especially the elderly - to do small repairs.
Help-Portrait's mission
Tarcísio Pontes, founder and coordinator of Help-Portrait Lisboa, confesses that every year he waits for December 2nd. The day when he and his team give back to what they love most: working on photography. That moment when happiness is forever engraved in a frame.
"I've been gathering a group of friends together since 2011 and every year we go to a community to socialize around photography." The real mission of this initiative "is not to take photographs, but to give them to people who don't have access to them and thus bring Christmas joy," Tarcísio says enthusiastically during our very brief conversation, because the studio is waiting for him.
Giving the frame to the family
The most awaited moment
And no one misses the photo. As a matter of fact, the families are scheduled, but they arrive early to socialize. In the improvised waiting room, the children make their Christmas and show their friends, with a certain vanity that characterizes these ages, that their Christmas sweater is the same as their father's. The first family to receive a photo frame tells us that "it's very good that these initiatives exist and that we don't miss them.
The first family to receive the frame tells us that "it's very good to have these initiatives and that it's not just for the photo shoot, but for the atmosphere here", and adds: "Lisbon's neighborhoods are very convivial, we all know each other, we're a family".
This essence of neighborhood life is like a code of conduct that residents respect and which creates a sense of belonging among all those who live there.
That's why December 2nd is so special for everyone, for those who give and those who receive. And this year was no exception: the Beato neighborhood united around photography.
The memory that Help-Portrait provides on this day is recorded not only in the frame, but above all in the self-esteem of those who take part.
The team of volunteers
The Help-Portrait Lisboa team is like an orchestra. Everyone is properly aligned and knows when to join in the music. The team is attentive and knows how to act so that this discomfort is forgotten within the first few seconds.
The pace of work and coordination is intense in order to meet the goal of delivering all twenty-four frames by the end of the day. And the record of the delivery is not explained, it is felt. Eyes shine and those minutes become timeless.
"I felt very happy during this day, the last time I was photographed was at my wedding"
Even with the clock ticking, there are photo sessions that warrant a few extra minutes of listening. And the photographer who welcomed Mrs. Ana to the studio immediately realized that he had to use these minutes. 92 years of life, many stories and a joy that is contagious.
And so it was with Mrs. Ana who, before leaving, invited all the volunteers to her birthday party.
Her face doesn't reveal what her life has been like. She belongs to the generation that came to Lisbon in the 1970s to escape the poverty of the villages, on the promise that the city knew how to welcome and care for them. It is in the Association, and in his neighbors, that he finds the affection he didn't receive in his village.
About Help-Portrait
The elite American photographer Jeremy Cowart founded Help-Portrait in 2009, a non-profit organization with the aim of giving back to the community for his talent as a portraitist. The idea soon became an international movement.
From India to Ghana, from South Africa to Russia, via Portugal, Help-Portrait finds no borders or cultural barriers.