NEW LISBON

Gonçalo Fonseca

NEW LISBON

The right to a home – not a matter of course in Europe: in his series, Portuguese photographer and this year’s winner of the LOBA Newcomer Award, reveals the dramatic housing situation in Lisbon and the consequences of the progressive gentrification.

Prata, a luxury development in Marvila, was designed by Pritzker Architecture Prizewinner Renzo Piano. In this area, property prices have gone up by 80%

Clockwise from the top: Joana, with her children and grandchildren, has been squatting in this apartment for over a year. The view from Joana’s apartment. The 78-year-old Maria is currently living with relatives; her eldest son looks at her things where the landlord had dumped them after her apartment was emptied

Nelita is threatened with losing her apartment (above); Sunday afternoon at Zona J (top left); during the corona crisis, the city administration threw thirteen families out of the apartments where they were squatting in Alfredo Bensaúde (left); washing dries out front of a house taken over by squatters (next double spread)

Clockwise from the top: empty apartments being demolished with the aim of scaring the last tenants away; a mobile phone offers the only lighting during dinner for a couple who have been squatting in an abandoned house; 87-year-old Zé was born in this apartment. He has been threatened with forced eviction since 2017

A man takes things out of his home in Quinta de Santo António. He was part of a group of 30 people who had been occupying these abandoned houses and were evicted by Lisbon’s City Hall

GONÇALO FONSECA

was born in Lisbon in 1993. After studying Journalism at the Catholic University of Lisbon (2011 to 2014), he decided to focus fully on photography. He completed post-graduate studies in Photojournalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He has been reporting from Spain, Portugal, China and India, for numerous international magazines, since 2017. He received a World Press Photo Award in 2016 and in 2019.

Many popular tourist destinations are currently unusually devoid of visitors. In particular, the old town districts of Europe’s major cities, overflowing with visitors for many years now, are noticeably less crowded during these times of pandemic. Will the experiences over these last months change the way we think and behave in the future? Not only in the travel industry, but also in how administrations market their cities? What will happen to city planning and the use of public spaces? Will the housing industry once again look out for the local citizens of a beloved place?

The consequences of an uncontrolled housing market, coupled with inconsiderate methods of dealing with long-term tenants, are clearly revealed in the winning series for this year’s LOBA Newcomer Award. With Lisbon as an example, Gonçalo Fonseca views the city as more than just a place to live. “I was born and raised in Lisbon,” he explains. “Growing up I felt it was kind of a forgotten treasure, with its beautiful weather, amazing food and distinctive personality. I often wondered why people didn’t visit the city as tourists.” It was in 2016 that he first noticed the fundamental changes taking place. “With increased popularity came investment funds that treated people’s homes like assets, keeping entire apartment blocks empty as they bought and sold the properties.”

Speculation on the housing market was fuelled to a large degree by the boom in tourism. At the end of last year and for the third time, the World Travel Awards chose Portugal as the best travel destination. Global competition crowned the capital of Lisbon as the best cruise ship harbour and the most popular place for a city break.

In 2019 alone, six million tourists visited the capital, which has a population of only 500 000. The more the tourists came along, the more the local housing market changed. For a long time, many of the city’s districts – particularly in the old town – were barely noticed or cared for, and local home-owners ignored the need to renovate or restore their buildings. Then, with the liberalisation of the housing market that resulted from the financial crisis, a wave of extreme speculation spread throughout the city. Rental prices began to soar; houses were sold or turned into holiday apartments without the city administration intervening in any way, leaving evicted tenants unable to find any kind of alternative housing.

Fonseca became aware of these radical changes in his city after spending time abroad: “For a big part of 2018 I was in India working on a project, but when I returned I was struck by how fast my city was changing, due to its booming popularity worldwide. I would see my favourite restaurants and shops closing down, replaced by businesses that cater exclusively to tourists, often in the same locations. Inequality was on the rise and it was becoming harder and harder for low income families to pay their rent. I felt like I was struggling against time because there were so many things happening: but the city was changing so fast that the effect of these changes needed to be documented.”

This understanding became the starting point for Fonseca’s New Lisbon series. His pictures, that were taken last year and this year, are imbued with empathetic imagery and reflect a keen sense for the decisive moment. He gets close to people most affected by the situation; the colour schemes, light and compositions of the photos turn every motif into a haunting example of the difficult, overall situation. To do so, the photographer concentrates on documenting individual stories, because numbers alone can barely convey the reality of the consequences of the tourism boom, housing speculation and progressive gentrification. It was quite a balancing act to gain the necessary insight into the everyday lives of the people portrayed. Fonseca manages to give faces to the displaced tenants: Nelita, Fabiana, the 93-yearold Emília, the 87-year-old Zé, Joana, Maria, and their children. In many cases they have lived their whole lives in the old houses, that have now turned into objects of speculation. Many of these former tenants have become homeless or have been forced to become squatters.

The role of the photographer merges with the role of a committed activist: “I am often the person the people call when they have issues, and I try my best to assist them and point them towards the right organizations that can help them. At the end of the day, things are easier for the photographer. We get to come home to our privileges, while the people we photograph have to deal with their problems on a daily basis. So I feel it is my duty to be there for them when the photo shoot ends, and I have become friends with some of the people. This creates its own sets of challenges; but in my opinion the key to great images is often great connections.”

Fonseca plans to continue with the series – all the more so now in times of Covid-19. “The pandemic has laid bare systemic inequalities in our societies and the economic crisis that is already starting to be felt will have a deep impact on our lives. I hope to be able to document that process.” Even though the travel industry and city tourism have suffered set-backs at this time, the housing emergency in Lisbon will not disappear in the short term. The situation may well change, but for those affected it will surely not get any easier. ULRICH RÜTER

GONCALOFONSECA.NET

LOBA NEWCOMER 2020: In addition to the 2020 Newcomer Award, Gonçalo Fonseca receives a Leica Q, as well as a photography assignment and two weeks of tutoring at Leica Camera AG headquarters. The Leica Gallery in Wetzlar is presenting the New Lisbon series as part of the exhibition on the occasion of the 2020 Leica Oskar Barnack Awards. It runs until February 7, 2021. The complete series and further information can be found at: leica-oskar-barnack-award.com