Manera Magazine

AT HOME WITH… FRANCISCO NOGUEIRA

Interview by Iker Oroz

If someone were to ask on the streets of Lisbon - or in the most irresistible architecture studios in Portugal - who is the quintessential photographer of Portuguese interiors, the answer would be unanimous: Francisco Nogueira. Through his lens, he has captured the country’s finest spaces for magazines around the world, including the cover of MANERA 09. He discovered his passion for photography during an Erasmus stay in Barcelona, but it was upon his return to Lisbon in 2010 that he decided to trade blueprints for the flash once and for all. Who would have thought he would end up becoming the eyes of Portuguese design?

Read the original interview in the Spanish

~ What’s the home you live in like?

I live with my two kids, Bartolomeu and Mercedes, in an early 20th century apartment in Belém. It’s about 130 sqm, and I like to call it a T2+4: two comfortable bedrooms, plus a series of smaller rooms serving different purposes I try to bring many of my visual references to my home, so I’m always surrounded by inspiration.

~ What made you fall in love with it?

From the moment I first visited the apartment, I fell in love with the south-facing light flooding the living room during the winter months. I then got lost in the back of the house where all the spaces are connected, so you can do different paths within the house. I also love the ceiling details, the doors and the wooden floor, that evoke a certain epoque and type of building.

~ Your favourite spot in the house is...

Sitting down in my chaise longue sofa looking through into the dining room.

~ Why?

It means I’m comfortably relaxing, it has a nice south-facing light that is warm and cosy, and it feels expansive and inspires me to look at my walls and books. As I travel so often for work, this is what really feels like home.

~ Is the house very different from when you first moved in?

It has been changing throughout the years, but layout and furniture wise only. What is hung in the wall, tends to be changing every now and then, to accommodate something new.

~ What’s one design piece in the house that you’re particularly fond of?

The Danish lamp in the dining room, (‘Thai’ by Design Light). The blue ‘Plié’ media unit by UTIL, a company founded by my good friend Manuel Amaral Netto. The 70s vintage sofa with the palm tree fabric in the living room. And the Tylko custom made yellow tv shelf.

~ A great gift someone’s given you for the home?

A group of friends gifted me a proper espresso machine for my 40th birthday, so I can now brew freshly ground coffee at home.

~ Is there a photographer you admire whose work you’re lucky to have on your walls?

A silk-screen print by Helena Almeida (even though she considered herself a painter and not a photographer). Both she and her husband, the architect Artur Rosa, were very important people to me and to my path as a photographer/architect, as they were grandparents of my ex-wife and I had the privilege of knowing them very closely. Artur’s work is also hanging on my walls.

~ Your ideal Sunday plan?

Going for a run along the river in the morning with my girfriend Mariana, then heading to the market to buy fresh fish and have friends over for ceviche or tartare, with some nice wines and a good conversation.

~ A friend comes to visit and you take them for coffee nearby — where do you go?

Lisbon is changing at a very fast pace and, to be honest, it is difficult to keep up with all the new hip speciality coffee places popping up all around the city - some are great, but also somehow soulless and could be anywhere in the world. As I love to have people over and now have good coffee at home, I would invite them home.

~ As a photographer... what’s the perfect Lisbon corner to snap the best photo?

As a photographer I would say you can snap the best photo anywhere if you are open to look and notice what interests and motivates you, could be anything, anyone, the light, the moment, your intention. So I would guess if you are open to see beyond, any corner can work - the important it to be able to look.

~ What’s one thing that can never be missing from your kitchen?

Toasted Cashew Nuts, 70+% dark chocolate, cold beer, and sparkling water.

~ What are your favourite books from your personal library?

From the living room: Uncommon Places by Stephen Shore, Son by Christopher Anderson, Kodachrome by Luigi Ghirri, The Construction of an Image by Bas Princen, The Atlas of Places by Eric Tabucchi From my bedroom: 1984 by George Orwell, In praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki, From the kids room: Geográficos by Regina Jimenez, Hoje Sinto-me by my friend Madalena Moniz, and a few more: Every time I travel I try to bring back one or two children’s books to my kids - always in the original language - If I don’t know the language, I choose visually striking books that can be enjoyed without words.

~ Suddenly, you win the lottery and can buy anything — what design piece do you go for?

I love collecting small and usually not so expensive design pieces and silkscreen prints, in auctions or second hand marketplaces. But if I won the lottery I would buy myself a house to renovate, big enough to expand my collected pieces.

~ To wrap up: what projects are you working on these days?

My schedule is generally very busy with commissions, but I always aim to find time for personal work. I am now preparing an exhibition of a series I have been developing in Cabo Verde, exploring informal construction and its relationship with the built landscape. I’m planning to present it early next year, followed by a photo book.