Manuel Sobrinho Simões and the False Araucaria

Pathologist Manuel Sobrinho Simões recalls the first photograph taken of him carrying his son Manel on his shoulders.

The first photograph with Manel

"It was the first time I was photographed with Manel on my shoulders, following a lengthy framing exercise by my father-in-law. I was about 27 at the time, while our first son was one year and a bit old. The setting was the garden of the house in Vila Praia de Âncora, and the subjects in the photograph are the boy’s frightened face and the little tree behind us.

I would draw your attention to the plant, which was the crucial element in the composition. Father Areias had bought it after being told that it was a species of araucaria, and that choice was not accidental. In front of us stood the majestic araucaria at Dr Morais Cabral’s house, planted in 1886 and recognised as being of public interest in 1995. Without any thought of comparison - which would have been impossible anyway - we always felt that we were helping another species of araucaria to grow, one that would complement Dr João Adelino [Morais Cabral]’s ‘crown jewel’, symbolically strengthening the friendship between the two tribes across generations."

The false araucaria

"At first, things went well. When our first granddaughter was born, around 30 years later, we recreated the pose, with Mariana on my shoulders and the araucaria already fully grown. Unfortunately, around that time the tree became infested with a pest. We called on Mr Rocha, a specialist from Serralves Park, and he had no doubts: the tree had an incurable disease and there was no remedy.

I have always been very fond of plants in general, and trees in particular, while Manel had become an expert in trees and forests. For that reason too, we were unprepared for the additional information from Mr Rocha: the tree was not an araucaria (sic). Our world collapsed. We have continued to care for the tree as well as possible and, about three years ago, we even managed to photograph me carrying Manuelzinho, the youngest grandson, on my shoulders. I was 75 at the time, and the competition is now between me and the false araucaria in terms of survival."

Manuel Sobrinho Simões
Doctor, professor, researcher
78 years old