THREE OR FOUR SHADES OF BLUE/ WAY HOME

The first track on side two of the Charles Mingus Album from 1977, Three or Four Shades of Blue, starts with a catchy melody that makes our feet tap until an expected wave gathers momentum and catches one by surprise with Mendelssohn’s wedding march from his Suite of Incidental Music to the play a Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare … until the deep bass takes over from the chorus and throws us deeper into a spiral of Central American rhythms, Caribbean swing and fast paced Bebop… it’s complex and raw, it’s sophisticated and experimental, it’s a celebration of the  Blues.

Although not Mingus’s most achieved piece, it is still one of my favourite albums, with the right amount of romantic melancholy and party exuberance, always elegant and challenging. It has been an essential companion on our many trips to Maputo.

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A decision to only work with blue metallic tones was made before the holidays, in 2012 - the camera was purposefully and permanently set to experience 4 weeks in different shades of blue.

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The Lightjet print on Fujicolour silver halide metallic gloss photographic paper is a humble digital nod to the illuminating silver gelatine printing process.

The visual narrative borrows more than just the title from the music, quick bursts of energy full of ideas are tempered by long solos, songs from childhood, sounds of the city, corners and horizons where dreams became memories and where roots will always be sustenance, a story of a place, a way home.

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By Uno Pereira