Atlas, one of the titans in Greek mythology, fought Zeus in the war between the Olympian gods and their predecessors. After ten years of confrontation, the gods won. While some of the defeated titans were sent to Tartarus, Atlas was condemned to hold up the sky on his shoulders. The Atlantic Ocean, unlike the mythological figure after which it was named, does not hold up the sky; it sustains villages and people from three continents, instead. It is thus closer to the popular misconception of Atlas, where the unfortunate titan is represented holding the Earth (instead of the firmament), upon his shoulders.

Carlos M. Fernandes

This text was written for the book Atlas, released by P4Photography to accompany the exhibition with the same name (Exhibition: Carlos M. Fernandes, Rui Fonseca and João Mariano)