Hélder Caixinha (DigiMedia member) presented “Linha do Vouga – a photographic narrative about the landscapes of a decaying railway line”

Abstract

The Linha do Vouga, whose initial section was inaugurated in 1908, is the only Metric Gauge railway line still in activity in Portugal. Currently connecting, through two separate stretches, the towns of Aveiro/Sernada do Vouga and Oliveira de Azeméis/Espinho, this line shows a pale image of its glorious past when it played an important role in the economy and mobility of people and goods in the Aveiro and Viseu regions. Its decline in recent years and plans, always postponed, for a promised revitalization, brought the demand to document the line and the human and urban landscapes that encircle it. To fulfil this demand and within the scope of a social intervention project, promoted by 4iS -Platform for Social Innovation, a photographic workshop – Vouginha Storytelling – took place from November 2018 to April 2019, where under the supervision of the renowned photographer Constanze Flamme, each participant developed a photographic narrative based on a personal exploration of that context. This paper reveals and examines: the process of developing one of these photographic narratives; the human, urban and cultural approaches that grounded it; and the final dissemination carried out, through a collective photographic exhibition and in a digital format through an Instagram account.