TITLE: The Portuguese fishermen

In the small hours, the Portuguese fishermen returned to the beach of Praia do Torrão do Lameiro after a good night’s catch in their traditional fishing boats. With their last ounce of strength, they dragged their boats through the sand, toward the dunes, and spread out their nets to dry.

Later that morning, Miguel and Rico came to the beach, both in their seventies, and started repairing the nets that were damaged during last night’s fishing session.

In the old days, they, too, would go out onto the seas, but age and hard work had taken their toll. Nowadays they sit in the blazing sun to mend their nets, nearly every day, for five to six hours straight. The weals on their hands, as well as their sun-tanned skin bespeak the hard bodily work carried out well into high age.

And when the sun has sunk beneath the line that separates the heavens from the seas, the fishermen set sail once more, in pursue of the next good catch.

AUTHOR: Jörg Liedtke (Germany)

I was born in 1961 in the most beautiful city ‘Kölle am Rhing’ and still live in the so-called ‘Speckgürtel’ of Cologne.

I started taking photographs at the age of 19. I borrowed my father's two cameras, a YASHICA MAT 124, 6×6 roll film and an ADOX 6×6 medium format. My first own camera followed a little later: a MINOLTA X500 semi-automatic 35mm camera. I also quickly set up my own laboratory, where I developed my black and white images using the standard method of the time.

I had my first small success at the beginning of the 80s in a photo competition at the Saturn photo shop in Cologne. I took second place with a series of black and white photographs of a model who was already known from Penthouse magazine and bodybuilding championships.

But then I got married and started a family, which meant that photography took a back seat for a long time - there were more important things to do.

In 2003, I bought my first digital camera, a compact Canon IXUS 400, 4 megapixels and with a display measuring just 1×2 cm. I was particularly fascinated by this type of photography as I could call up my pictures directly on the PC - no developing, no waiting for pictures from the lab, saving hundreds of pictures was suddenly possible without further ado.

In 2010, this was no longer enough for me and I ordered my first SLR camera: a Canon D450 with 12 megapixels. This was followed 5 years later by my first used full-frame camera: a Canon 5D Mark2 with 20 megapixels, plus the first L lenses from Canon.

This was followed by my first professional photography workshop with a professional photographer, which was followed by several more. I can proudly and gratefully say that these have taken my photography to the next level. In combination with YouTube tutorials, reading, trying and discarding, I am constantly developing my skills on a self-taught basis.

Although it has given me some very good pictures, I parted with my Canon 5D Mark2 in 2018 and bought my first mirrorless camera: the Canon EOS R. In 2021 I exchanged the EOS R for the EOS R5, which will certainly be with me for the next few years - but I keep finding that the photographer takes the pictures and not the technology. Nevertheless, the possibilities and the progress of technology in this field inspire me - and they always will.