Shearing sheep

In the Cabreira mountains (Vieira do Minho and Cabeceiras de Basto) men have been sheperding flocks of sheep from times immemorial. These sheep provide a good source of food and wool, a raw material that was necessary for protection and warmth as winters were very cold. The shearing is performed once a year. The wool around the chest is the first to be clipped and it should follow a continuous manner and close to the animal's skin, as the goal is to obtain a single continuous fleece. I took these photographs when I was visiting Bucos, the small village where "Casa da Lã" is located. "Casa da Lã" is a project of the Museum of Terras de Basto/Cabeceiras de Basto. The goal of this project is to show how a group of women who lived in the isolated village of Bucos, in the middle of Cabreira mountains, decided to create the conditions to save the tradition of working with the wool for the future generations and how their determination helped make their way towards success. This set of six photographs is now part of a photographic garden nos "Socalcos do Douro", a permanent photographic exhibit in a terrace of Douro region.