1988 – Panorama photo of Praia de Alvor, Portugal, shortly before sunset. Photo © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Alvor in Portugal is a small village near Lagos, the buzzing city in the western part of the Algarve region. Alvor has a rich history in fishing, and so it’s no surprise to find many restaurants that serve excellent fish dishes. The beach is long and wide and simply breathtaking, IF you look towards west. However, if you look towards east, you will spot some of the sins of the 1970s and 1980s: high rise buildings to attract mass tourism.
And this photo shows this view towards east during the approaching sunset. These were early signs that the Portuguese might repeat the mistakes from some Spanish regions, but fortunately there are just very few really ugly, artificial concrete towns in the region today. Alvor had stopped this development early on and did not add more high rises as this image from Google Streetview confirms.
If you look closely, though, that the area on the left (which was undeveloped in 1988) has now been covered with small houses and buildings. What’s more, the beach has now boardwalks that guide the visitors over the sensible dunes, plus many wooden huts.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1988 |
| Location | Alvor, Portugal |
| Camera | Canon AE-1 Program |
| Image Source | Negative Film |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 6978 x 3469 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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