SAUDADE

Saudade is a desire for presence as opposed to absence. It is the intimate longing for something or someone absent, real or transcendent. When the first rumours were there of a second lockdown, I decided not to stay in Belgium. I wanted to be somewhere beautiful by the ocean, somewhere where I could breathe, feel the elements and surf every day. Peniche has been my home for the past couple of weeks and being in or staring at the otherworldly beauty of the Atlantic Ocean has become a big part of my solitary days. Time passes by slowly. ... tides, clouds, wind, waves, rocks, sand ... No better place to get to understand the feeling of saudade than the land where it originated.