Depois do Adeus
Memorial Manifest honouring João Manuel Serra, known as "Senhor do Adeus".
"Adeus" means goodbye in Portuguese, but it's also the name of the hand-waving gesture. João Manuel Serra was always waving at people on the main squares of Lisbon, becoming a pop icon of the city. When he passed away, people where gathering in the streeting paying him an honourable homage by waving at people and cars passing by. I joined them to portray and document this beautiful gesture, and wrote a simple explanatory text to go with the photographs:
On 10th November 2010 a Lisbon legend has passed away. A simple, lonely, kind man had started his ritual of standing everynight on a busy Lisbon square, waving and smiling at passers-by. All he gave us was a smile. Nobody really knew who he was, and yet he was like family.
On 11th/11 at 11pm, hundreds of people gathered together on the same place, continuing his legacy and paying tribute to him waving at other passers-by. He got people together with his kindness, his smile and his gesture. Shall he never be forgotten, and let the simplicity of his acts be an example to us all.
To the loving memory of João Manuel Serra, Lisbon 1931 - 2010.
Tânia Neves
Tânia Neves
