Ana Luiza Sa

During a family trip to Portugal, I met my cousin, who is also an architect. She took me to São Bento Railway Station in Porto to show me its architectural design. What immediately caught my attention was the perspective and the vanishing point created by the space, which led me to capture the image.

After looking at the photograph, I became fascinated by its potential as a black-and-white image, particularly by the relationship between light and contrast. This competition gave me the opportunity to explore that possibility and transform the original capture into the monochromatic image I had envisioned. I named the photograph “Path Shaped by Light.”

Receiving this award gives me a very positive sense of accomplishment. I feel that it represents a sense of fulfilment and success in developing a photographic language that can resonate with and reach people from different cultures.

I believed this photograph brought together interesting characteristics and could inspire meaningful reflections in those who observed it. The vanishing point and symmetry create an indescribable sense of peace through visual balance. This feeling was one of the main reasons I chose this image for the competition.

I was introduced to a camera quite casually by my grandfather, who let me use his camera to document school trips. This is how it all began. Although drawing was not his profession, he had a remarkable talent for drawing. I believe that people with this ability often develop a different sense of observation — one that values details and allows them to see beyond the obvious.

I learned to draw with him, and the level of observation I developed through drawing naturally carried over to photography. The camera was an analogue one, and making that transition from drawing to photography was a fascinating experience for me.

Lately, I have been especially drawn to black-and-white photography. Why? Because the central subject becomes the true theme of the photograph. Light and darkness, shadows and half-tones, become protagonists of the visual narrative, allowing the image to communicate through contrast, atmosphere, and depth.

I would say that I don’t really have a fixed setup. For me, one of the most important “setups” is having my arms trained for long periods of photography. The device I have in my hands gives me the freedom and flexibility to move, observe, and capture what catches my attention wherever I am. For me, that freedom is one of the most valuable features a photographic setup can offer.

I would like them to feel connected and to experience a sense of connection with the image. I want my photographs to create a sense of immersion, allowing viewers to feel present in a place even when they are not physically there. I also hope to intrigue and inspire reflection, so that a photograph can become an instrument for information, study, culture, learning, and meaningful debate.

The station was quite deserted when I arrived, which I believe was due to a quieter period of the day. This gave me the tranquillity to observe the architecture and carefully compose the image. At the same time, the unpredictable movement of people became part of the challenge. People can humanise an architectural space, giving it scale and life, but they can also distract from the visual purity of a composition.

As I was not a regular visitor and did not know the station’s busiest hours, I had to work with this unpredictability. In the end, the quietness of the space allowed me to emphasise the perspective, symmetry, and relationship between light and architecture that had first caught my attention.

The United Arab Emirates. It was a place I visited shortly after graduating in architecture, and it left a lasting impression on me. What fascinated me was the idea that there, the impossible seems not to exist — there are only endless possibilities. It feels as if you could say, “I can tie a knot in a drop of water,” and the answer would be, “That’s interesting… what if the drop had two knots?” And then, instead of stopping at the idea, they would start creating extraordinary projects, imaginative solutions, and prototypes around it.

This way of thinking inspires me deeply. It encourages me to look beyond what already exists and to imagine what could be possible. As an architect and photographer, I find this particularly powerful because both disciplines begin with the ability to see beyond the obvious.

Lately, the people in my circle of friends and the professionals I have been connecting with have become a great source of inspiration for me. I am especially inspired by people who value authenticity, creativity, and originality.

Sometimes they show me something extraordinary through simplicity; at other times, it is the complexity of an idea that makes it truly brilliant. These exchanges constantly encourage me to look at things from different perspectives. Perhaps they do not know it yet — but they might after reading this interview.

I would encourage photographers to participate in awards because submitting your work is also a way of challenging yourself and discovering how your visual language can communicate with people beyond your own cultural context. Winning is wonderful, but the process itself can be a valuable learning experience.

My advice would be to choose an image that you genuinely believe in, rather than trying to predict what the judges might like. Authenticity, intention, and a strong personal perspective can make a photograph stand out.

Try. Challenge yourself. The best part of your photographic tool is not being developed in your equipment, but within you. Your camera can capture what you see, but it is your ability to observe, interpret, and create that truly develops your photography.

Editing and post-processing allow me to enhance what is already interesting in an image, while seeking the delicate balance between the photographer’s vision and the viewer’s perception. For me, it is about revealing the potential that already exists within the photograph without losing its essence.

I see AI as a detail, a tool, and even a source of inspiration. It can open up possibilities and offer new means of exploring ideas, but I do not see it as a solution in itself. For me, technology should support the creative process, while the photographer’s own vision, observation, and interpretation remain at the heart of the image.

I would love to photograph the architectural projects whose models I saw during my visit to the United Arab Emirates shortly after graduating in architecture. At the time, I saw the models of projects by architects such as Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, and Norman Foster. Today, I would love to photograph those projects as built architecture.

There is something particularly fascinating to me about seeing an idea that once existed as a model transformed into a real space. As an architect and photographer, I would love to experience these buildings not only as architectural achievements, but through my own photographic language — discovering how light, scale, perspective, and movement reveal them in reality.