Cities & Creative

In a recent conversation with friends who were visiting in Lisbon, we got to thinking about how we ‘see’ the cities we travel to.

As someone who has been blessed with travel, through work and play, I had a theory that we fleshed out - over a bottle of vinho verde.

I’m a ‘sit in a café and watch the city walk past me’ kinda gal. For me that’s how I feel a place; by seeing the people who are in it, living it. Mostly without them knowing they’re being observed. I do love the odd good museum and grand vista, obviously a city is a physical structure as much as it is a human one. But mostly, I like to see and meet the people.

And it got us thinking whether there are similarities between seeing cities and creative work. We spoke about how we happily ‘watch’ a city unfold and yet quickly jump in to ‘judge’ creative work. If we apply the principle of observation to the work we critique would we find more to it than the bricks and mortar we see straight off?

I love sitting and feeling a city wash over me, slowly pulling me in and showing me its value. So we agreed to look at creative work the way I do a city for a while, and see if we find the same wonder there that I have in all the places I’ve travelled to.

We also agreed that vinho verde is a wonderful summer drink.

Photo credit for 'Balthazar' to my awesome sister and 'model' credit to my brother-in-law (caught watching New York walk past him!)