A selection of photographs by Anti Soosaar: city, people, light and space.
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Natalia, After Dark
An evening that began like any other
One evening in Porto, I was walking with Alex (nicknamed Aqua Freska), me with my backpack and him with his crates of water. We had watched the sunset at Jardim do Morro, which was my daily ritual. From there, I would usually head back home.
This time, there was a Starbucks on the way. Alex went in for coffee while I waited outside. At one point, I noticed someone setting things up in a corner of the square. It looked like a fire show was on the way. When Alex came back, I suggested we go and have a look and drink our coffee outside, because something was about to happen.
Alex smiled and said:
“She’s my friend, Natalia.”
The first evening: watching, not photographing
Alex introduced us. Natalia was setting up her music and equipment at the same time. We sat down on the kerb and watched.
What I saw that first evening was more than a fire show. It was pure passion and joy in what she was doing. The photographer in my head started seeing pictures: that spin here, that smile there, the ring of fire around her, sparks rising into the dark sky. Throughout the performance, I saw moments I wanted to capture. But I had a 24–70mm f/4 lens on the camera, which simply would not have managed in light that low. By then, though, I already had a plan.
After the performance, I asked Natalia, “Would it be OK if I came back tomorrow and photographed you?” She nodded. Yes, that would be fine.
The second evening: fire, dance and a 50mm lens
The next evening, I turned up with a better lens. A 50mm f/1.8, exactly what I needed. Low light, live flames and fast movement are a combination that leaves no room for slow reactions.
Once the show began, I quickly realised this would not be a simple “take a few shots and I’m done” kind of evening. The fire lit Natalia’s face and body too brightly one moment, then barely at all the next. She moved quickly, spun around and sometimes tossed the fire into the air, while the light changed within seconds. I went along with all of it.
After the show: harder than taking the photographs
To be honest, looking through the photographs the next day was harder than the evening in the square. Sorting them felt like watching a short film all over again, because every frame held something I was reluctant to let go of.
It is a good problem to have when the person in front of the camera is so open and present. I had to keep telling myself that a gallery could not contain 300 photographs, even if I wanted it to. In the end, I chose the frames where the fire, movement and Natalia’s own energy came together.
Some time later, Natalia wrote a Facebook post thanking the photographers she had met along the way, and those “thousands of clicks” that help her see herself and share her art with others. She also thanked me for my photographs. Moments like that make me think about why I carry a camera around in the first place. Well, this is exactly why!
Friendship on a Porto street
Natalia did not remain just someone I photographed one evening. We kept in touch throughout my time in Porto. Sometimes, after her shows were over, we would sit in the street for hours, talking about life, art and travelling. That became part of my Porto: the people who keep it alive, alongside the city’s facades and bridges.
If you go to Porto
If you find yourself in Porto:
- Make sure you go and see Natalia’s fire show. She often performs near the Dom Luís I Bridge, where the evening light and bustle by the river provide a backdrop to the show.
- Say hello from Estonia. You can tell her you found her “through an Estonian’s photographs”.
- Appreciate how much of herself she puts into it. Leave something in her box too, a few coins or a note. This art takes time as well as passion.
If you are in Porto and looking for a performer for your event who does it for more than “just a job”, Natalia is the right person. In her hands, fire is more than an effect. It is a language she speaks.
With Natalia, this is a story about fire, friendship and an evening in Porto when I stood behind the camera, thinking about how many people in the world do what they truly love, and how lucky I was to be part of her story for a little while.
Full gallery: https://photography.antisoosaar.ee/en/events/fire-dancer-in-porto-night/
Fire Dance in Porto at Night: Natalia
Anti Soosaar · 2025
Anti Soosaar · 2025
Anti Soosaar · 2025
Anti Soosaar · 2025
Anti Soosaar · 2025
Anti Soosaar · 2025
Gökçe and Three Printed Photographs
Porto, 2025–2026. Two summers, long conversations outside a shop and three portraits I brought to Gökçe as prints. Photographs and story by Anti Soosaar. Full story in Estonian.
Gökçe among her drawings. Porto, 29 August 2026.
There’s a shop doorway in Porto that I’d probably just walk past. But when Gökçe has put up her drawings and is sitting there among them, I stop. Somehow, it becomes a completely different place. Pictures hang from strings, smaller pieces sit between the larger ones, and she’s right there in the middle of it all. I think it draws a certain kind of person. It drew me in too.
I met her in the summer of 2025, when I was staying in Porto for a while. In the first photo I took of her, she’s wearing blue and talking to a man. I printed it out and took it to her.
The first photo I brought her as a print. Porto, 20 July 2025.
She was so happy it brought tears to her eyes. It turned out I’d photographed what had been a really lovely day for her. The man in the photo was an American doctor, and they’d sat there talking for hours.
I soon understood how that could happen, because I ended up staying and talking to her for hours myself. Later, when I saw her on the street, I’d sometimes sit down there again. Some days we talked a lot, about all sorts of interesting things. On others, hardly at all. I just sat there and photographed people.
I liked being there. There was no need to keep moving on or to have something to say all the time. You could just be there.
Gökçe’s paints, brushes and one of her works. Porto, 26 July 2025.
I didn’t see her for a long time that summer
In 2026, I didn’t see Gökçe for quite a while. I wondered whether she’d moved somewhere else or simply left Porto. Natalia, whom I’d photographed dancing there before, had also moved a little way out of Porto. I thought perhaps Gökçe had done the same.
But at the end of August, before I left, we met again. We sat and talked for a long time, catching up on how we’d both been. At one point, she said to me:
“I’d like to look beautiful in a photo too.”
I took three portraits of her right there. They’re the three photos in this story where she’s wearing a black top. In one, she’s in front of her drawings; the others are a little closer. The same person I’d spent so much time sitting beside the summer before.
One of the three portraits I took when we met again. 29 August 2026.
The same day, beside her drawings. 29 August 2026.
Three days later
Three days later, I brought her prints of those photos. I still find it hard to put her happiness into words. You could see it in her face, in her eyes and in the way her whole body reacted. Her eyes watered a little too.
She asked why I’d done it. Nobody had asked me to, or commissioned any photos.
I told her: “You said you wanted to look beautiful. I took these photos so you could see that you are beautiful.”
Then she went to show them to other people. To the woman at the iris photography studio next door, and to others too. It was lovely to see how much happiness those three photos brought her. And I came away feeling good too.
That’s why I wanted to write more about this encounter. I could just put the portraits on Instagram. But you’d miss the summer before, the long conversations and what happened three days after I took the photos.
This is how I like to photograph people, as part of getting to know them. We talk, and sometimes we sit quietly. And the photos come along too. Whenever I look at these three portraits now, I also remember Gökçe walking off with the prints in her hands to show them to other people.
You can find Gökçe’s drawings and paintings on Instagram: @arte_peregrine.
Gökçe and Three Printed Photos
Meeting Again · Anti Soosaar · 2026
One of the three portraits I took when we met again. Porto, 29 August 2026.
Among Her Drawings · Anti Soosaar · 2026
Gökçe among her drawings. Porto, 29 August 2026.
By the Doorway · Anti Soosaar · 2026
The same day, beside her drawings. Porto, 29 August 2026.
The First Printed Photograph · Anti Soosaar · 2025
The first photograph I brought her as a print. Porto, 20 July 2025.
Colours and Brushes · Anti Soosaar · 2025
Gökçe’s paints, brushes and one of her works. Porto, 26 July 2025.
