In many countries, the sun rises and sets over the land, and in others, it rises over the sea and sets over the land. Many tourists from Central Europe that visit Portugal are amazed to watch the sunset, which, on the sea coast, is always over the sea, a view always beautiful and sometimes stunning like the one I saw in December 2013 at Fonte da Telha, a sandy beach close to Lisbon.

The sun was right above the sea and shining behind some clouds. A beam of yellow light headed towards the sky. I was enchanted by the almost perfect reflection of the sky in the sheet of water above the sand, so I placed the horizon line in the middle of the photo.

The Portuguese writer Raul Brandão (1867-1930) was born in Oporto, near the mouth of the Douro River. A descendant of fishermen, the sea was one of the most discussed themes in his literary works. In the book, "The Fishermen", published in 1923, Raul Brandão portrays the lives of fishermen in several fishing communities on the Portuguese coast. He describes characters, situations and landscapes in a realistic and impressionistic style, showing great sympathy for the profession he knew well from his ancestors.

As I watched the magnificent sunset which I now present this image, Raul Brandão's notes about this event came to my mind. "If I were a painter, I would spend my life painting the sunset by the sea. I would make a hundred different canvases with new and unexpected paints. It's an extraordinary spectacle.

There are pools in the sand where the universe is reflected - the sky, the light, the sunset. They don't move, and the light stays there until dusk. And just as the sunset is molten gold on the entirely green sea, which the night will soon excite, the ponds between the moist and dark sand insist on keeping the light concentrated and forgotten".