Ana and Till together in hard sunlight above Lisbon.

LOVERS SESSION · SEPTEMBER · LISBON, ALFAMA, SINTRA & ATLANTIC COAST, PORTUGAL38°43′30.9″ N, 9°09′00.0″ W

BETWEEN LISBON AND THE ATLANTIC

They knew the steps. I only had to give them somewhere to start.

Ana and Till came to Portugal for their fifth wedding anniversary and gave themselves almost two weeks for it. First a secluded quinta in the Algarve, then Lisbon. I joined them for the final three days.

Till is one of my best friends. He is also a wedding photographer, which can make pointing a camera at him either very easy or deeply annoying. In Portugal it was mostly easy.

I had arrived one night before them at our Airbnb in Alfama, close to the Museu do Fado. None of us had been to Lisbon before. Three friends, one apartment and no local expert. Good.

Ruin threshold during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Shared table during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Stone passage during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Open laughter during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
City tower during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Lightshaft kiss during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Forest portal during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Sintra mountains during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Sintra path during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Ana and Till dance Lindy Hop on an empty forest road near Sintra.

Lindy Hop was already theirs. They danced regularly back home. The empty road was my contribution.

Forest road during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Woodland walk during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Joined hands during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.Atlantic coast during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Tidal rocks during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Coastal portrait during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Coastal laughter during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Cabo roca lighthouse during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Golden coast during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Sunset silhouette during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Evening coast during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Ocean embrace during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Clifftop conversation during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Cliff edge during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Evening drive during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Window view during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Lisbon street during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Azulejo distance during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Azulejo portrait during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.Layered portrait during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Tiled wall during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Plant detail during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Field path during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Narrow trail during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Praia ursa during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Sea stacks during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Beach movement during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Surf embrace during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Breaking wave during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.

I put them against the rock wall and waited for a wave to hit it. That setup was mine. The Atlantic did not care about my timing, but eventually it did what I needed.

Ring detail during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.Crossed arms during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Sand overhead during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Playful frame during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Monumental cliff during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.

Then we had to climb back up from Praia da Ursa. I hate walking uphill. Till took the piss all the way up. Ana didn’t. She gets a pass.

Coastal return during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
City embrace during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Harbour view during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Window selfportrait during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Shopfront reflection during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Small table during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Shifted focus during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.

Till could see a photograph being built, but he never tried to direct it from the other side of the camera. He trusted me with that. Ana and Till worked much the same way with each other. They made decisions on equal ground, without either one needing to win. If one started messing around, the other rarely needed asking.

Red rooftops during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Church rooftops during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Cobblestone steps during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Close profile during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
City observation during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Steep crossing during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Distance portrait during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
City overlook during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Hidden hands during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Sunlit rail during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
Tram passage during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.
City sky during Ana and Till's Lovers Session in Portugal.

What stayed with me is less organised: ridiculous light and a lot of laughter.

We had a very good time. I do not have a more useful conclusion than that.

Ana and Till marked their fifth wedding anniversary with almost two weeks in Portugal. During the final three days, their Lovers Session moved from Alfama in Lisbon through Sintra to Cabo da Roca and Praia da Ursa. The photographs combine shared travel, Lindy Hop on a forest road, deliberately shaped portraits and the unguarded time between them.

"He accompanied us with his camera for three days in and around Lisbon and created a unique memory for us. Thank you, Björn!"

Till GläserFifth wedding anniversary in Lisbon

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