Lumen & Grain
Book a sitting

Lisbon · Est. 2014

Light, kept.

Mara Ellison photographs on film and prints in a ground-floor darkroom in Alfama. Portraits, tables, coastlines, and the odd wedding small enough to hear the shutter.

View the workBook a sitting
  • 2014Opened in Alfama
  • 12Prints to an edition
  • 35mm & 120Film only
A woman in a blue top sits by a round porthole window in a dark room, lit only from the window
Frame 01A round window in a dark room.Library photograph
  • Portra 400
  • HP5 Plus
  • Ektar 100
  • Portra 160
  • Hand printed in Alfama
  • Editions of twelve

Selected plates

Five series, no similars.

All the work
  1. A dark rocky beach at dusk under a pink and orange sky, with sea stacks offshoreFrame 01Azores · 2023

    North Atlantic

    Two weeks of weather on a black coast. The figures are small because the water is the subject.

  2. A glass of red wine beside a lit candle on a lace tableclothFrame 02Lisbon · 2024

    House Wine

    Tables after people have gone to the door. Peel, brass, a glass someone meant to finish.

  3. A wide stone staircase with a red runner between yellow marble wallsFrame 03Alfama · 2022

    The Yellow Room

    Apartments that still have their original tile, and the stair that belongs to all of them.

  4. A tram on a dark Lisbon square at night under street lamps, in black and whiteFrame 04Lisbon · 2025

    After the Last Tram

    The city after the wires go quiet. One window is always still on.

  5. A woman sitting in a deep window seat, looking out at green trees, lit from the sideFrame 05Studio & field · 2021—

    Kin

    People who know each other, photographed as if the camera were a guest who might stay for coffee.

A woman by a tall window checking a small compact mirror, lit by the daylight
Window light, late afternoon.Library photograph

The print is the picture

What the film kept.

Files are how the work travels. The edition is how it stays. Every sitting ends as a contact sheet and a short stack of prints — silver or pigment — numbered, signed, and finished in the same room.

Lumen & Grain does not offer a digital finish. If you want the day later, you want the print.

The shelf

Editions of twelve.

All prints
  • A dark rocky beach at dusk under a pink and orange sky, with sea stacks offshore

    North Atlantic · 5 of 12 left

    North Atlantic, plate 4

    Silver gelatin, warmtone

    Size for North Atlantic, plate 4

    €180

    Request this print
  • A wide stone staircase with a red runner between yellow marble walls

    The Yellow Room · 8 of 12 left

    Yellow Room, morning

    Hahnemühle Photo Rag

    Size for Yellow Room, morning

    €160

    Request this print
  • A tram on a dark Lisbon square at night under street lamps, in black and white

    After the Last Tram · 3 of 12 left

    After the last tram

    Silver gelatin, warmtone

    Size for After the last tram

    €180

    Request this print
  • A glass of red wine beside a lit candle on a lace tablecloth

    House Wine · 9 of 12 left

    House wine, peel

    Hahnemühle Photo Rag

    Size for House wine, peel

    €150

    Request this print

Sittings

Time, stock, price.

  1. Portrait sitting

    One person or two, in the studio or a room you already love. Twelve finished frames.

    Two hoursPortra 400, 120
    €640Request

  2. Editorial commission

    For houses, magazines, and brands that still want a contact sheet, not a drive of similars.

    Half dayPortra 160 or HP5
    €1,400Request

  3. Still life

    Tables, objects, cloth. Shot on the Alfama set with one window and whatever lamp the picture needs.

    A studio dayEktar 100
    €980Request

All sittings

A roll of Kodak Portra colour negative film with its leader pulled out
A roll of Portra, leader out.Library photograph

Journal

Notes from the sink.

All notes
A man leaning over a light box, checking film negatives in a dark room
Checking the contact sheet before the print.Library photograph

The darkroom

Rua dos Lagares 18

1100-286 Lisboa. Ground floor of a former tile workshop. Thursday–Saturday, by appointment. Shoes off if it has been raining — the floor shows every drop.

Hours
Thursday–Saturday, by appointment
Print
Silver gelatin, warmtone, and Hahnemühle Photo Rag.
Printer
Mara Ellison, with Nuno Pires on the wash.