Commemorating Thatcher’s 33-year career in Portugal, the exhibition showcases 120 portraits of Portuguese icons, on display until April 26.
Award-winning photographer Kenton Thatcher inaugurated his exhibition “Sessions – 33 Years of Portuguese Icons“ at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes in Lisbon last Friday.
On display until April 26, the collection features 120 black-and-white portraits of Portuguese celebrities, politicians, musicians, athletes, and more, including football legends Cristiano Ronaldo and José Mourinho, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, to name but a few.
Portuguese band Xutos & Pontapés captured through Kenton Thatcher’s lens.
In an interview with CMTV on the day of the exhibition’s inauguration, Thatcher revealed what inspires him: “What inspires me is people, persons, personality. What people hide, I would say, within. And I try at times to capture that moment. It’s quite easy in a movement, like on TV, you can tell a story in 2 or 3 seconds. I like the challenge of capturing that in one photograph”.
The English photographer, who moved to Portugal 33 years ago, is now a national reference in his field and an active member of the English community in Lisbon, which led him to be awarded an MBE in 2022 “for services to the creative arts in Portugal and to charity“.
To complement the exhibition, Thatcher also published a book compiling his work as “a tribute to the art of capturing a moment that lasts forever”, available for purchase at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes.
The exhibition is open to visitors on weekdays between 12h00 and 19h00 and Saturdays between 14h00 and 19h00. Entry is free.
