Slow Memory in Matosinhos Photo Essay
My photographic (first) impressions during the walking tour Traces and Ghosts: The Marks of the Canning Industry in Matosinhos organised as part of the Slow Memory Conference Porto 2025
‘We are living in times of deep contradictions. While our world accelerates and grows smaller through superfast digital networks, it is also marked by widening socio-economic disparities. We face viral pandemics, rapid species extinction, increased automation of work, quick fixes for mental health, political upheavals and displacements of old certainties. Adaptation and resilience to these challenges must draw on past experiences and cultural resources – this can only happen if we slow down and take time to remember well.’ https://www.slowmemory.eu/about/
At the Slow Memory Capstone Conference in Porto (2-4 July 2025) I made a presentation about the role of photographic practices in support of slow memory practices. I also attended incredibly thought provoking, informative and resonant presentations, workshops, visits and walks. This is my photo essay from the walking tour in Matosinhos. I include brief references to the history of the place.
The canning industry of Matosinhos, near Porto, flourished from the late 19th century, driven by abundant sardine stocks and modern preservation techniques introduced from France and Spain. By the early 20th century, Matosinhos had become a leading hub for canned fish production, significantly contributing to Portuguese exports and providing vital employment, especially for women (Moreira & Fonseca, 2017).
During the Second World War, Portugal’s neutrality allowed the canning industry to supply both Allied and Axis powers, boosting production despite global turmoil. The Estado Novo regime further supported the sector as part of its autarkic policies. However, the post-war period saw decline due to overfishing, competition, and industrial stagnation (Silva & Ferreira, 2018).
Our walking visit was to the remnants and reconfigurations of Matosinhos’ historic canning industry sites. It aimed to ‘uncover what remains of the golden age of canning factories, particularly in the Matosinhos Sul area, where the relentless rhythm of machinery, the scent of fish, and tireless labour once defined an era of industrial identity now revealed only in the ghosts of structures and scars on the land. These factories, which once sustained entire economies and communities, have become ‘available ruins’ as Eduardo Souto de Moura described them, with some now reimagined as cultural centres or residential spaces.’
Diego Souza (CEAU-Faculty of Architecture — University of Porto, Portugal) was our knowledgable and passionate guide as we were invited to explore history through architecture and built environment.
‘In the last decades of the twentieth century, the canneries almost completely disappeared and the gap left by its concentration and modernisation led to the creation of a new urbanisation plan, directed by Álvaro Siza Vieira. Recent works, such as the seaside platform designed by Eduardo Souto de Moura and built at the beginning of the present century, the redevelopment of Leça’s shoreline in 2006 or the conversion of the ruins of a former winery into the new ‘house of architecture,’ are signs of growing functional disputes and symbolic transformations of a particular port city.’ (Souza & Oliveira, 2023)
All images (c) Andreea Elle Vas 2025 all rights reserved
References
https://www.slowmemory.eu
Moreira, C., & Fonseca, R. (2017). Sardinha em Lata: Património Industrial e Memória Operária na Indústria Conserveira de Matosinhos. Edições Afrontamento.
Silva, A. S., & Ferreira, M. C. (2018). "The Canning Industry in Northern Portugal: Heritage, Memory and Identity." International Journal of Heritage Studies, 24(3), 290-305.
de Souza, D.I. and de Oliveira, I.P. (2023) ‘Infrastructure, Canning and Architecture The Case of Matosinhos’, SPOOL, 10(1), pp. 5–20. doi:10.47982/spool.2023.1.01.
