© 2011, Laura Riggs; Lisbon, September
Other than a little brightening on the blue, this photo has virtually no filter. I took it in September 2011, during my first trip to Lisbon. The economy had collapsed and there were quite a few people lining the Rua Augusta, begging for money. I saw many more standing in unemployment lines, that were blocks long, in the city center. The city was dirty and covered in fog. As I stood, staring out at the Rio Tajo, the sailboat came into view and I quickly snapped as it passed under the Santuario Nacional de Cristo Rei.
I didn’t stay long in Lisbon, but the rampant sadness and poverty afflicting the centuries-old port, that had come on the heels of the financial, caused by the fraud of big banks has always stuck with me.
It seems our lawmakers never learn from these disasters, and are always willing to loosen regulations designed to protect their citizens from swindlers, for the sake of lining their pockets with a few more bits of gold.
The people deserve better.
laurariggs.com 