“Christening of an Artisan Fishing Boat” won first place in ED#3 of the IN COLORS PROJECT. In a work that exudes authenticity, here is the narrative of a people.
It could be the film set of a series about Rabo de Peixe, in the Azores, such is the abundance of elements that weave a realistic script. But in black and white, what is shown, without filters or editing, is the true soul of a community married to the sea. People who have faith in the safety of their boats and in their children as the net cast into the future. The sky may be leaden and there may be drama, but joy has a way of letting itself be caught on the line: with God's help, happy moments are being created.
The photograph was taken after the christening ceremony of a traditional fishing boat, a propitiatory ritual performed before a vessel is launched into the water. It is an ancient tradition, one of those that progress is taking away from us. That is why Paulo Monteiro makes a point of immortalizing them. He goes in search of them and captures them with his lens, before it is too late.

In fact, this work is part of his project “Açores Profundos” (Deep Azores), which took 24 years to complete. “During that time, I traveled throughout the nine islands of the archipelago, where I documented the joy of the festivals, the tenderness of the girls dressed as princesses, the nobility of the work, the beauty of the landscape, and the exoticism of the animals and plants.” Thanks to him, we have visual evidence of “a unique, dense, and intense culture, of a world on the brink of extinction.”
Information, art, ethnography, and anthropology come together in the prolific and award-winning work of Paulo Monteiro, a photographer born on the island of São Miguel, Azores, where he lives. Self-taught, he began exploring photography in 1985. He has never stopped taking photographs or deepening his knowledge in the field, let alone celebrating the identity of his people, which he has been showing in national and international exhibitions.