One month, one square, the whole city by the end of the round.
- Squares
- 32
- 2 km a side
- Length of a round
- 32 months
- nearly three years
- Photographers
- 12–13
- per round
- Waterfront
- 16 km
- inside the survey
Grelha de Lisboa documents every square kilometre of the city: not the postcard spots, but the wilderness, the residential streets, the 16 kilometres of waterfront, the parks — and everything in between.
The map is divided into 32 squares, 2 km a side. Each month the whole group photographs the same square, then moves on to the next one. B3 in May, E4 in June, and so on. Everyone shoots whatever strikes them inside it, brings their own edit, and presents their selection at the following meeting — as prints or on screen.
That is where the method shows itself: the same street, in the same month, seen by twelve different people. Meetings happen wherever is convenient — offices, homes, studios, coffee shops.
Why Lisbon
Lisbon is changing fast — new buildings, shifting infrastructure, passing fashions. Most of it goes unnoticed. Many photographers believe you have to travel to Paris or New York to find something worth shooting, while visitors to Lisbon are amazed by its photographic potential.
That happens by staying within familiar surroundings and avoiding the areas that look uninteresting. The grid forces the opposite: it sends you where you would never choose to go. It also keeps you shooting through the flat months. And revisiting the same squares in later rounds is what records the change.
Where it comes from
In October 1995, the photographer Christopher Rauschenberg cut a map of Portland into 98 pieces and invited 12 local photographers — each with their own cameras, films, formats and processes — to photograph a randomly drawn square each month. Over a decade, every square mile of Portland was documented, in more than 20,000 images shared among the participants.
The Portland Grid Project is still going, now in its fourth round and its thirtieth year, with an exhibition of all participating photographers at Blue Sky Gallery in 2026. Grelha de Lisboa comes out of that: a former member of Portland's rounds 3 and 4, bringing the method to the city he moved to.
The commitment
We are looking for photographers willing to commit to all 32 squares — roughly 32 months, nearly three years. Shooting every month, sometimes more than once: some squares resolve in a single outing, others ask for several, at different hours, perhaps at night. Then editing, and presenting the selection at the next meeting while already shooting the next square.
The group is kept to 12 or 13 people: it keeps meetings manageable and broadens the range of perspectives on the city. Portland's original round took nine years to complete, with several photographers going round more than once.
Up for it? Let's talk. We will ask for a sample of your photography, and for your commitment to complete at least one round.
The grid is laid over the administrative boundary of the Lisbon municipality, from OpenStreetMap (relation 5400890). A square joins the survey when at least 1% of its area falls inside the city; the shaded area on the map is out of bounds. Boundary data: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.