Postcards from the Road: Series 003
The whole reason why I started this website, was to give myself a space to share my photography and the stories from my travels over the years. I’d also wanted to create something tangible with my photography that people could share with others.
So late last year, I went through thousands (and I do mean thousands) of photographs on my hard disk drive, and picked out 20 that I liked the best or turned out the best, and put them to print.
It was with Series 002, that I wanted to create something different.
Read on about Postcards from the Road: Series 002, where I took the photos and the stories behind them.
See, for me, photographs don’t exist in isolation.
There are stories behind them all, things that I thought that compelled me to click the shutter, and most of the time there were these inexplicable feelings of longing for something, or someone.
I wanted them to end up looking like stills from old foreign films, y’know with the subtitles in italics and a yellow stroke.
Over these months I started doing pop up booths and events to get my work showcased on a larger scale, and the reaction that I’ve gotten in just these few months has been so, so surreal, uplifting and incredible.
In some ways, it kind of took off more than I ever expected.
Also in that time, I launched my line of notebooks, tumblers, and tote bags; and I was really struggling to create new things, not for a lack of inspiration but because the overachiever in me just wanted to keep creating, constantly.
And it wasn’t till I read somewhere in passing, the words of another creative, and it said something along the lines of, “as a creative, you shouldn’t feel the pressure to be constantly creating,” basically saying, it’s okay to kind of take a step back. Because the whole process of creating something completely new, I toyed with many other ideas and asked friends for suggestions, well I won’t get into it here, but it is kind of tiring.
But I’ve created something new, and this time I’ve gone back to where I started.
Postcards.
And because my words on Series 002 of my postcards really resonated with some, I’ve decided to continue with that for Series 003, and here are the stories behind the photos I put to print for this series.
PS. You’ll find a lot of these photographs from Portugal, as that was a trip I took over Christmas last year.
Shop Series 003 at the shop now!
Edit: Ever since the launch of the postcards, the brand has grown into several more lines of postcards, tote bags, notebooks and tumblers.
Postcards Series 001 | Postcards Series 002 | Postcards Series 003 | Postcards Series 004 Singapore
Tote Bags Series 001 | Tote Bags Series 002 | Tote Bags Series 003 Singapore
Notebooks Series 001 | Notebooks Series 002 | Tumblers Series 001
1. Cascais, Portugal
A summer beach town designed for Lisbon’s elite to escape when the temperatures started climbing, Cascais initially started as a fishing village.
These days though, it has become a popular vacation spot for both locals and tourists alike.
For travellers to Lisbon, Cascais is easily done as a day trip.
Travel Guide: A Day Out in Cascais and Cabo da Roca
After living in Barcelona for a winter, I realised that traditionally bustling summer towns actually have their draws in winter as well.
It’s not overrun by tourists, prices aren’t as high, and most importantly you get a more authentic look at what life is actually like in that town, because you’re going to see more locals than visitors.
And Cascais was brilliant.
We spent the whole day there, and as the sun started to go down, we found a dirt trail leading out to the rocks along the coast where we watched the sun go down.
One of the most famous sights of Cascais is the Cascais Lighthouse (well, the Lighthouse of Santa Marta), and with the waves crashing in as it looked like the lighthouse peaked out of the palm trees, this was one of the most calming sites there.
It’s important sometimes, to stop for a minute and just, well, breathe.
2. Cabo da Roca, Portugal
38.7804° N, 9.4989° W; the most western point on the European mainland at Cabo da Roca, Portugal.
Accessed by a bus that winds through the hills of the cape from either Sintra or Cascais, both easily doable day trips from Lisbon, you’ll find yourself at (yes) another lighthouse, but also a steep drop off the cliff into the Atlantic Ocean.
Most visitors hang around an area well-trodden, but it was when we were heading back, past the small monument that reminded you of the coordinates you stood, the dirt road completely fell away to views of the hills, the cape shrouded in mist in the background, and the ocean by its side.
That view.
I had to immortalise it in a photograph forever.
It looked like, well, the end of the earth.
I’d never seen anything like it before.
3. Cascais, Portugal
The spot we chose to watch the sunset from at Cascais stood somewhere along the main coastal road, and on that road lay some hotels and houses, and the way the sunset burned the sky with hues of orange that reflected in the glass of the houses stunned me.
I thought about how much I truly love the ocean.
It was the way this seemingly futuristic house stood in the middle of nowhere, and what living in a house like that must feel like, with views like that all the time.
4. Cascais, Portugal
By the time we made it back from the coast to the main town, the sun had set and the lights of the town had come on.
There’s something about the moon for me, I don’t really know what, but it always makes me want to take a photograph of it.
And this time, with a row of houses lit up in front of it, framed by palm trees on both sides (yeah, turns out I’m really into palm trees too— maybe it’s the tropical upbringing of mine), I snapped this photo.
5. Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon is no longer the slept on capital city people choose in favour of other more famous, written about, romanticised cities in Europe.
These days, Portugal itself and it’s capital are experiencing a bit of a renaissance, and its streets are now thronged with visitors, particularly in the olden part of town.
The Ultimate Guide to Lisbon: A Complete Itinerary
Tram 28 (also known colloquially as the tourist tram) plys the routes of the old town, and as we exited the Lisbon Cathedral, the scene was bustling.
It really did feel like a scene out of a film.
6. Lisbon, Portugal
One of my favourite things about Lisbon is the fantastic weather it enjoys— god bless the Mediterranean, and the fact it’s an incredibly colourful city.
The tiles that line building walls, the paint adorning the facades, the windows, the food, the people, I could go on.
This row of houses stood near the apartment we called home during our week in Lisbon, and the way the sunshine struck these houses was properly gorgeous.
7. Belém, Lisbon, Portugal
Lest we forget, Portugal used to be a major maritime empire, and it was here in the riverside district of Belém where Portugal’s famed explorers set off on their treacherous voyages to discover the New World.
Across the river bank stands the National Sanctuary of Christ the King, supposedly built to commemorate Portugal being largely unharmed by the atrocities happening in Europe during World War II.
We decided to take a tuktuk there between the 5 of us (that’ll be another story), and on the way back as the sun was beginning to set, we passed by another lighthouse.
I quickly scrambled to point my camera in its direction on the bumpy ride, and this was the shot I got.
As much as photography is sometimes about taking a couple minutes more just to make sure everything is right, I do love the unplanned ones the most, and I love that you can actually see the movement in this shot.
8. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
And now we start with the 3 photographs in this series that weren’t from my trip to Portugal, this time with Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.
Recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay is a seascape of literally thousands of islands and islets, formed out of limestone.
16 year old me was running around on a cruise ship we took as we stayed in the bay for a couple nights.
A lot of it is now catered to visitors, and some places can really only be explored on a row boat.
We were sat in one, and took this of a boat on the other side, with the limestone cliffs setting quite the dramatic seascape.
9. Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I’ve been lucky enough to witness quite a number of sunsets that have been jaw droppingly, achingly beautiful.
And this one in particular was off the coast of Western Australia.
Seriously, I do think some of the most beautiful beaches in the world can be found here.
We stayed as the sun started to dip into the Indian Ocean, itself a bright burning shade of orange.
Travel Guide: A Week's Itinerary in Perth
10. Olympiapark München, Munich, Germany
I realised that of all my European travels, I’d never actually made a postcard from any of my photos in Germany, and we spent a good number of days in Munich and Berlin.
I have incredibly fond memories of Munich, it was oddly blisteringly cold during our time there, the city blanketed under a layer of snow, but I remember how warm the massive beer halls were.
Locals and visitors alike flocked to these beer halls for a hearty dinner and many, many pints of beers, and the atmosphere was incredible.
We got to meet some of the friendliest locals just out on a great night, this group of friends that were (slightly) inebriated, and how happy the whole atmosphere felt.
Munich really moved me in more ways than I thought it would, and that’s why in the Olympic Park, where the snow and the slush had made its way into my canvas shoes (rookie mistake), I couldn’t feel my toes or my face, but yet I remember Munich for how warm it is.
