As Sardinhas das Portinhas [Door(s) of the Month – July 2026]

Every door on this site starts as one photograph. This month, more than three hundred of them became a pair of sardines.

Every spring, EGEAC (Lisboa Cultura) runs the Concurso das Sardinhas, the Sardine Contest: an international open call inviting artists to reinterpret Portugal’s iconic sardine silhouette in whatever medium they choose to celebrate the Festas dos Santos Populares in June.

This year marked the 16th edition, themed “What’s your story?” I submitted two designs, both built from the same library of over 300 original door photographs I’ve taken in more than 60 locations across mainland Portugal, Madeira, and the Azores.

Portugal de Porta em Porta

The first design is the full sardine body: a continuous photo mosaic that runs blue at the head, through green and red, toward the tail with a single photo represented in each of the sardine’s scales.

Since moving to Lisbon from Ireland in 2022, I’ve explored Portugal from top to bottom through her doors, including the diverse vibes of different Lisbon and Porto neighborhoods, the Roman remnants in Ponte de Lima near Braga, Sagres at the far edge of the country where Portuguese maritime expansion began, a cherry-chasing road trip to Fundão most tourists never make, and much more.

Every door in the mosaic is a real place I stood in front of. Each scale represents a time, a place, and the experiences we unlocked along the way.

The composition overall is meant to evoke calçadas portuguesas, the black-and-white mosaic pavement that has let me explore this country on foot, one door at a time.

A Sardinha das Portinhas

The first design was a stepping stone to this second, more intricate entry. I pondered:

“what if I could create a Portuguese tile from my door photography?”

With this in mind, I built this sardine from the same 300+ door photos arranged into symmetrical, kaleidoscope-style medallions.

The geometric detailing was inspired by the azulejos surrounding my favorite door in the Campo de Ourique neighborhood of Lisbon.

I didn’t place among this year’s five winning designs with either entry. There were more than 6,000 submissions from around the globe, so I knew the odds of winning were slim. What I got instead: a crash course in Canva that I wouldn’t have put myself through otherwise, and a new way of looking at three hundred of my door photographs.

Building both mosaics meant studying color, pattern, and repetition across images shot years apart and in 60+ different locations to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

I liked both pieces enough to print them together and hang them on my wall, which was the personal prize that I treated myself to.

Watch Them Come Together

The full reveal, zoomed in tight on individual doors and medallions before pulling back to the finished pair.

A Selection of the 300 Doors Inside The Sardines

A hand-curated look at some of my doortraits that make up the mosaics, spanning Lisbon to the Azores.

Both designs were entered in EGEAC’s 2026 Concurso das Sardinhas (Sardine Contest). Sardine design and photography by Jennifer Petoff (aka Dr. J) of Sidewalk Safari.

More Doors of the Month