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I Photographed 33 Shades Of Grey In 20th-Century Chapel In Portugal

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It took me a long time in this maze before I found the location of the chapel on the ground floor. From the outside, however, the apse was immediately visible, the only clue that revealed the presence of a chapel in this rather crude and massive building. From slow corridors to heavy stairs, alternating between light and darkness, I had progressed cautiously on a floor that had been eaten away by humidity. As I descended another staircase and another corridor, a blind wooden door that I pushed without much conviction finally allowed me to access the nave, from the back, just below a balcony.

Under the dust, under the droppings of pigeons and bats, one could still imagine rich and finely worked tiles dividing the floor in its length into five aisles. I was surprised by the low height of this Neo-Gothic-inspired ceiling. With this style of architecture, I expected vertiginous heights. Standing at the foot of one of the pillars, I could almost touch the capital with my fingertips. The finely worked stained glass windows were low and stocky. The whole chapel was coated in shades of grey.

The vaults spread their long bat wings with rib vaults above the visitor. The furniture consisted of four aisles of dark wooden pews and three richly carved altars in the same dark wood.

I wondered what the acoustics were like in a chapel with such a low ceiling. But I remained silent, as a precaution.

How did the chanting of the monks who came to pray here sound? Could their prayers reach the celestial ears of the people they were praying to?

More info: francismeslet.com | Facebook | Instagram

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Francis Meslet

A graduate in Design from the Fine Art School of Nancy in 1986, early in his career Francis Meslet was a designer, but soon turned to advertising when he joined several agencies as an artistic director. After 34 years spent questioning the creative concept and studying images in all his compositions, he is now a creative director. Francis does not hesitate to roam the world in his spare time, searching for abandoned sites, sanctuaries where time seems to have stopped after humans have evacuated them. He thus brings back captivating and melancholic images of his travels to the other side of the world...Like time capsules, testifying to a parallel world and perfect for enabling the mind to wander and ponder, Francis Meslet’s melancholic images brave the passage of time, making way for silence after the memories left behind by human inhabitation. In these deserted places, no more than the rustling of the wind can be heard through a broken window or the sound of water dripping from a dilapidated ceiling. These silences nonetheless invite the spectator to slip into these well-guarded and mysterious places captured by the photographer and attempt to bring to life that which has been forgotten. In this power station orders were shouted in German, in this French Catholic school the cries of children resounded to the sound of the bell but who can imagine the sounds hidden behind the walls of this old psychiatric asylum in Italy or on the docks of this abandoned island off Japan? From these silences, everyone can imagine their own interpretations, ...reinterpretations.

A graduate in Design from the Fine Art School of Nancy in 1986, early in his career Francis Meslet was a designer, but soon turned to advertising when he joined several agencies as an artistic director. After 34 years spent questioning the creative concept and studying images in all his compositions, he is now a creative director. Francis does not hesitate to roam the world in his spare time, searching for abandoned sites, sanctuaries where time seems to have stopped after humans have evacuated them. He thus brings back captivating and melancholic images of his travels to the other side of the world...Like time capsules, testifying to a parallel world and perfect for enabling the mind to wander and ponder, Francis Meslet’s melancholic images brave the passage of time, making way for silence after the memories left behind by human inhabitation. In these deserted places, no more than the rustling of the wind can be heard through a broken window or the sound of water dripping from a dilapidated ceiling. These silences nonetheless invite the spectator to slip into these well-guarded and mysterious places captured by the photographer and attempt to bring to life that which has been forgotten. In this power station orders were shouted in German, in this French Catholic school the cries of children resounded to the sound of the bell but who can imagine the sounds hidden behind the walls of this old psychiatric asylum in Italy or on the docks of this abandoned island off Japan? From these silences, everyone can imagine their own interpretations, ...reinterpretations.

Violeta Draseikaitė

My name is Violeta and I am an editor here at Bored Panda. I love reading memes for a living. It’s obviously much more than that, but I appreciate the variety of topics, information, and pics I get to see every day and share with the world! Those funny memes really make my day too. Being born in the ’90s in post-Soviet Lithuania speaks more about me than I’d like to admit. I’m still learning about the world and myself, but I do love my friends, traveling, art, and my cat. My favorite fact to share about myself is that I used to hide meatballs in my friend’s pockets at lunch so I could go play outside. I wish all those meatballs could find their way back to me someday.

My name is Violeta and I am an editor here at Bored Panda. I love reading memes for a living. It’s obviously much more than that, but I appreciate the variety of topics, information, and pics I get to see every day and share with the world! Those funny memes really make my day too. Being born in the ’90s in post-Soviet Lithuania speaks more about me than I’d like to admit. I’m still learning about the world and myself, but I do love my friends, traveling, art, and my cat. My favorite fact to share about myself is that I used to hide meatballs in my friend’s pockets at lunch so I could go play outside. I wish all those meatballs could find their way back to me someday.

What do you think ?

manon M 4 years ago

Au niveau des bancs c'est bon la distanciation est respectée... 😆

0points

manon M 4 years ago

Au niveau des bancs c'est bon la distanciation est respectée... 😆

0points

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