{"id":1409461,"date":"2026-01-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1409461"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T05:00:00","slug":"cova-da-moura-vibrant-portraits-from-the-hip-hop-capital-of-lisbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1409461","title":{"rendered":"Cova da Moura: Vibrant portraits from the hip-hop capital of Lisbon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lamoureux, Kova M<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Gallery \/ 16 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Cova da Moura, a suburb on the outskirts of Lisbon, developed in the 1970s as a makeshift favela. Organic, unauthorised and built primarily by migrants from Cape Verde, an African nation then still struggling for independence from colonial Portugal, the area itself was illegal. While this is no longer the case, the social exclusion which came with that designation still endures. Yet Cova de Moura is now one of Greater Lisbon’s most culturally vibrant districts, with a flourishing music scene, year-round festivals and a powerful sense of political legacy. These dual realities are captured in <\/span>Kova M<\/span><\/em> (taking its name from a term for the area favoured by its younger residents), an evocative series by photographer <\/span>Loan Lamoureux<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally from France, <\/span>Lamoureux <\/span>has always been interested in subcultures, beginning with a childhood love of hip-hop music. \u201cI\u2019m attracted to the movement of the streets, inside different communities, at protests or gatherings,\u201d he says. Since moving to Lisbon ten years ago, he has been working on one ongoing project about the city\u2019s South Indian communities and another focused on <\/span>Cova da Moura.<\/span> \u201cOver the last three years, I\u2019ve been visiting to take pictures or sometimes just to catch up with people there and try to create something personal.\u201d He was first brought to the area by rappers in the local scene, including Real Guns,<\/span>\u00a0General Mucuemba<\/a>,<\/span> and Eks P, while shooting music videos for them. They later accompanied him as he worked on the project and introduced him to prominent figures in the neighbourhood. \u201cIf you went by yourself as a foreigner with a huge camera, it would be a bit weird. But with those people, I felt very at home and welcomed,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span>
A group of young people gathered in the neighborhood.<\/span><\/span>Photography Loan Lamoureux<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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While it\u2019s now unrecognisable from its humble beginnings, Cova da Moura still experiences high levels of poverty and discrimination. \u201cEven though it\u2019s legal now [officially part of the city], it still has a bad connotation for a lot of people; it still carries that weight of criminality, of marginalisation,\u201d <\/span>Lamoureux<\/span> says. Many people in the area, including two of his subjects, are what is known in Portugal as \u201cinvisible ones\u201d which means that, despite being born there they still don\u2019t have official citizenship, face the threat of deportation to countries where they\u2019ve never lived (much like Britain\u2019s Windrush scandal) and are denied access to education, employment and their full spectrum of human rights. \u201cTheir kids are allowed to travel, have jobs and study because they have a Portuguese nationality, but because the parents didn\u2019t do the proper [paperwork] when they were born back in the in the 70s and 80s, they are denied that, even though they have lived here for decades.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cova da Moura <\/span>has also been the frequent site of police violence, including a case in 2024 when a police officer <\/span>shot dead <\/span><\/a>local resident<\/span> Odair Moniz, after falsely accusing him of carrying a knife. <\/span>The ensuing controversy drew attention, rightfully, to the problems facing the community, but as Lamoureux says, lots of people in Portugal only see the area in those negative terms.\u00a0 \u201cReally, it\u2019s a neighbourhood which lives on its history, cultural heritage, festivals, music and emerging rap scene. It\u2019s a really lively place which has a lot to offer, and I wanted to go beyond a cliched depiction,\u201d he says. His work doesn\u2019t feel like gritty documentary photography or the product of a voyeuristic, patronising gaze; instead, it portrays<\/span> Cova da Moura<\/span> as a warm, community-minded and dynamic place.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Lamoureux,<\/span><\/span>
A young man stands on a rooftop during the shooting of another music video.<\/span><\/span>Photography Loan Lamoureux<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The series also spotlights<\/span> Cova da Moura<\/span>\u2019s rich history of anti-colonial struggle and political resistance, seen in the area\u2019s street names and the murals adorning its walls, many of which reference leaders who helped Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde achieve independence from Portugal. Representations of these figures, including <\/span>Am\u00edlcar Cabral<\/span>, appear in the background in several of Lamoureux\u2019s shots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside hip-hop music, <\/span>Lamoureux<\/span> is inspired by \u201call the classic American street photographers\u201d, including William Klein. He has a strong appreciation for Japanese photography, having lived there himself for two years and published a book about it. \u201cI love <\/span>Masahisa Fukase.<\/span> He did street photography but would implement full-size portraits that looked a bit more like studio or conventional photography. His practice was more about the streets, but he was continuing a legacy of traditional portraiture,\u201d he says. This quality is evident in Lamoureux\u2019s own work; alongside a lively spontaneity, there is an elegance to the framing of his subjects, some of whom could be gracing the pages of a fashion magazine. Whether capturing youthful bravado or quieter moments of communal life, his respect and affection for the area shine through.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit the gallery above for a closer look.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69441\/1\/cova-da-moura-loan-lamoureux-lisbon-hip-hop-photographs-portugal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lamoureux, Kova M Gallery \/ 16 images Cova da Moura, a suburb on the outskirts of Lisbon, developed in the 1970s as a makeshift favela. Organic, unauthorised and built primarily by migrants from Cape Verde, an African nation then still struggling for independence from colonial Portugal, the area itself was illegal. While this is no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-1409461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1409461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1409461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1409461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1409461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}