These Window Collages Are Serious Eye Candy

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Lisbon-based photographer André Vicente Gonçalves loves to travel and loves collecting things. He is, in his words, “all about details.” One detail he has paid particular attention to over the past five years is windows.

Gonçalves recently sat down to assemble over 3,000 photographs of windows into collages, giving birth to his series Windows of the World. He didn't select the prettiest windows for his compilations necessarily, but rather ones that together conveyed the essence of a place. Of the windows he photographed in Venice, for instance, he featured those with stone details and warm or red colors. Gonçalves has traveled to Venice upwards of eight times, and those elements stand out most in his memory.

The architectural details in many of Gonçalves' photos provide a glimpse into the history and culture of cities. For example, the wrought-iron balconies and whitewashed walls in his Evora collage date back to the 16th through 18th centuries when Portuguese kings resided in Evora and the city experienced a golden age, according to Unesco. The azulejos, or painted ceramic tiles, in his Lisbon collage also date back to this period. He hopes to learn more about the windows' different elements.

Gonçalves has documented windows in Italy, Portugal and Austria so far and plans to build the series. Tibet and the Russian towns of Myshkin and Suzdal are on his wish list, and he plans to travel to London in the fall. “This project will take me a lot of years to accomplish,” he says with a laugh. “For now, it’s small...I have a lot of countries to cover.”

To view more of Gonçalves' work, visit his site here.

Melissa Wiley | READ MORE

Melissa Wiley writes and manages special projects for Smithsonian.com.