Meninas 2nd Edition

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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Summer Storm (old text, same mood)

It is summertime and I watch it through these new big windows of mine.The sky is in motion. Sometimes very blue, sometimes dark, sometimes a storm is performed like this one now.The wind hits the trees in front of my windows and throws the plants upside down on the balcony. I am afraid a tragedy is going to happen at any moment. I am afraid for the old people of the old people’s house at the other side of the street; maybe a storm like this is too strong at that age.Everything is grey and circling like in a tornado in front of my eyes. I ask myself with no calm to really reflect: are there tornados in Northern Europe?There is a mass of movement outside there, everything hits, everything twists, everything revolts. Not knowing what to do until it reaches its conclusion and still scared that something tragic will happen, maybe the end of the world – who knows, I close the curtains, switch off the lights and sit down on the couch. Moments later I go and lay down in bed, while listening to the power of the wind and the heavy drops of rain falling as plumb around my head. I would like to work on the computer, watch television or talk on the phone, but nothing is allowed with such a revolution.I am not going on vacation this summer, but my boy friend will. These bright windows are not mine actually. I can only look through them for the next 6 short months. Our house is lost and this is not home, just a brief shelter. I have no idea if one day there will be a place for me here in this country which now is also mine.The Summer storm seems to come in order to awake something, I feel the motion but I do not identify the purpose. I am alone here, taking everytime more distance of myself, walking into the hostile unknown. I feel it as I feel the angry power of the unexpected tornado outside. Will I survive? NeydeJul/2004.

Have a Seat!

Work for Quality Decorações, Salvador-Brazil, 2007.

Santa Therezinha Hospital

By the end of the 1990’s, the Santa Therezinha Hospital in Salvador, Brazil, was experiencing an exceptional problem with its elder workers and professionals - those who had founded the place many decades before or came to join it in the early years. They were resistant to retirement, afraid to leave the place where they had spent the largest part of their lives. I was invited to portray those men and women. The idea was to make an homage remembering their years of dedication with a project to become the starting point of their retirement process.
The other side of the story is that my father had died, many years before, in a bed of that same hospital. And that made it a sentimental assignment to me. I was instantly invaded by the idea that probably those workers, nurses, doctors, technicians, caretakers, had known and dealt with my father, since he lived there for one long year until his death in consequence of cancer.
Even though I was convinced that I would get positive answers, maybe even memories and stories, I decided to not ask anything. Already in the previous contacts and later, during the development of the whole project, I was surrounded by the simplicity and the humanity of their hearts, constructed throughout decades of dedication in a big hospital for chronicle and terminal patients. For that short period, I felt reunited with my father, who died when I was 10 years old. It was comforting to think that he was treated by such compassionated hands. Brazil, 1997