This photograph shows an ancestral waterwheel, a traditional device for raising water, located near Ervedal, in the Alentejo region of Portugal. A wooden structure leans over the stone well, using balance and gravity to draw water from the subsoil, reflecting generations of agricultural knowledge shaped by the region's climate and terrain. In the foreground, wildflowers cover the field, while scattered rural ruins rise on the hill behind, marking human presence over time. The image actively connects tool, land, and memory, showing how work once aligned with seasonal cycles and natural resources. The waterwheel may no longer move, but it continues to embody the resilience and enduring relationship between water and rural life in this part of inland Portugal.

* April 29, 2006
* Ervedal, Alentejo, Portugal
* GPS: 39.03759, -7.73822
* From the series: Spirit of Earth — Traditional Practices
* Object number: #118.POR-SET.2006
* Olympus E1, 50-200/2.8 • Iso 100 • 101mm • f/9 • 1/200sec
* Photograph. 70×50 cm. Ed. 1/12 + 3 AP
* Print on Hahnemühle Glossy Fine-Art Baryta, 325 g/m²