FARO AT HOME, the Europe at Home project inspires a Faro photographer to share images of her family in lockdown

Wanda Ferreira is a psychologist by training, a mother of three and a photographer, and her motto is “Capturing emotions and preserving memories”. Inspired by the “Europe at Home” project being run by Faro2027 – Faro’s application to be European Capital of Culture – which she found out about through the television report on RTP1, she decided to participate in the project and take up the challenge; the project challenges citizens from all over Europe to share their visions and experiences of this unprecedented time that all of us have been through “at home”.

Although Wanda Ferreira’s photographs relate to the first lockdown following the state of emergency declared in 2020 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, they represent the current situation that the people of Faro and the Algarve are once again experiencing in the face of new restrictions on sharing public spaces and the reinforcement of social distancing. It is therefore the right time to focus on the photographic work of Wanda Ferreira, and to discover a little more about what she thinks of the Europe at Home project.

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​What prompted you to take photographs of your lockdown? 
I use a documentary approach a lot in my photography, especially in my family, and I naturally had the idea of always having my camera to hand to be able to take photographs of our days in lockdown. I have three children under the age of ten; my youngest was still under two during the first lockdown, and photography is a marvellous way of telling them (their) stories over the years. In this case, showing them how we painted a rainbow and the significance of this for us and for many children all over the world; telling them that often the only way to get some fresh air was to watch the sunset on the terrace of the building, reminding them how every day we tried to do some activity together or how there were days when it was difficult to manage everyone’s emotions. One day, I’ll put everything together in a book and give it to each of them so they can later show it to their children and friends.
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...we’re all in the same situation. And, at the same time, we aren’t all in the same situation!

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​What is your opinion of the “Europe at Home” project both as a photographer and as a European citizen?
I think it’s a very interesting project. These are extraordinary times were are living through, in Faro, in Portugal, in Europe and in the world. So we are all experiencing the same situation globally, we’re all in the same situation. And, at the same time, we aren’t all in the same situation!
The cultures of each country, the living conditions of different families, family relationships and the way in which every individual adapts to lockdown are very varied, and photography is a unique way of documenting these times and these differences though a document that will be there for ever. As a psychologist by training, I think this project could also be a way of studying the population and this critical period we are living through.
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Do you think it is important as part of Faro’s application to be European Capital of Culture?
Yes, I was pleasantly surprised by this initiative. Photography is a unique tool of memory, one that is increasingly part of our lives, and a photograph is a historical document. It is a way of documenting the same situation (lockdown) from different viewpoints (different people/families) and showing how everyone is experiencing this period which will be part of the history of the world in general and of each individual in particular. Doing so based on Faro’s application to be European Capital of Culture, and inviting the rest of Europe to take part, is an excellent way of uniting Europe around this project.