Neuzinha, 2006
Fernanda, 2006
Meninas
Menina means girl. I chose the Portuguese word instead of its English translation because of the current association of “Girls” with sex-commerce and the adult/porno culture. The English word would give a distorted appeal to the series.. The word in Portuguese keeps its reserve and innocence and remains appropriate to refer to those girls between childhood and puberty.
“Meninas” has been developed since the beginning of my practice with photography. I had begun in the early 90’s, taking commissioned family portraits of the (high) middle class of the state of Bahia, in Brazil. I did not know yet that those pictures would become a personal work, but, since the first assignments I was impressed by the way the girls stood in front of the camera.
Arriving to what was supposed to be a standard family photo-session, I would meet them in adult like customs, wearing lipstick, posing their imitations of photo models. The strong sexuality present in that innocent attitude, at such a young age, came out instantly to me. The seduction and the pretended confidence demonstrate the little girl who wants to be beautiful but who actually wants to be loved. The ambivalence of puberty exposed in their attitude was confronting me, because I realized those girls were like the girl I used to be.
Finally, it is significant to remark the obsession of beauty as part of the Brazilian culture for the whole 20th century, though by the end of the 80’s and during the 90’s it had its great boom. The rise of the cosmetic and fashion industry in my country and its associations and consequences - the incredible market of plastic surgeries, photo-modelling as the highest ambition for girls, etc – reinforce the idea of beauty/vanity as a strong value inside Brazilian society. And children are very much affected by it.
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3 comments:
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Neyde, curioso: estou de momento no Brasil, em férias. Estou no Estado Pernambuco.
Foi um prazer ter descoberto o teu blogue e com certeza vou linká-lo, mal possa.
Thank you for your visit, Joshua, I will be visiting your blog very soon...
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