My Home Is Where You Are; Portugal
My Home Is Where You Are reflects on intimacy as it unfolds within the domestic space. This series takes the form of a personal portrait of my wife Teresa and of the private life we share at home. The images arise from a continuous observation of her body — its movements, its rhythms, and the gestures she may not even be aware of. Nothing is forced or constructed. The photographs reveal unconscious, natural poses, moments in which the body seems to respond instinctively to its own presence. My own body is necessarily present in many of the images. At times this presence is direct and visible; at others it is embedded in the point of view of the photographs themselves. Touch becomes a central element of the work. My body touches Teresa’s body, and through this contact, matter and texture become tangible. The density of skin against skin draws attention to the physical reality of intimacy and to the quiet intensity of shared presence.
Santa Cruz represents a territory formed by elements: rock, sea, sand, vegetation, skin. Organic matter, texture, and marks of erosion and time reveal a landscape shaped by the forces of nature and those who inhabit it. Human presence emerges through fragmented bodies. Partially visible faces, cropped torsos, and backs depart from the traditional portrait. They are matter integrated into the environment in which they exist, in constant dialogue; skin and rock, body and vegetation. Human and natural elements coexist in a territory that is not merely scenery; it is a condition. Space and body share marks of resistance and transformation, revealing the relationship between place and those who inhabit it. Santa Cruz is a dialogue about the relation between body and territory, nature and matter.
Sculpture And Mirror; Portugal
“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” Michelangelo
Sculpture and Mirror presents the human body as a sculptural object, revealing the relationship between the body, the processes that shape it, and its own reflection. In a space dedicated to discipline and transformation, two bodybuilding athletes shape their bodies with rigor and persistence. Gym equipment becomes sculptural tools. Movement becomes a method of carving form, working each muscle group with precision in order to achieve the volume, symmetry, and proportions required for competition, like preparing a work for an exhibition. Each athlete prepares for a different category, Wellness and Figure, whose aesthetic and structural criteria determine distinct paths of physical construction. Training thus becomes a meticulous process of adjustment and refinement.The mirror occupies a central role in this process. More than a reflective surface, it becomes a space for observation and self-measurement, where posture is corrected, progress assessed, and stage poses rehearsed. Within this reflective dialogue, the body exists simultaneously as subject, object, and image. Sculpture and Mirror reflects on the body as physical matter shaped through discipline and perception. Light enhances volumes, lines, and shadows, emphasizing muscular tension and posture as elements that evoke classical sculpture, revealing both the body in training and its material presence as a work of art.
Acknowledgements
Ana Varela - Bodybuilding Athlete, Wellness Category
Sara Taneco - Bodybuilding Athlete, Figure Category
The Cave explores the transformation of matter, where each configuration results from the interaction between rock, water, and soil. The cave emerges as a space in which matter organizes itself, creating volumes and establishing relationships between form, density, and presence. Contact with water and natural erosion accentuates the plasticity of stone. Rocks, shaped by time and by the infiltration of water into the soil, form structures that articulate and evolve organically, revealing a continuous metamorphosis from simple configurations to more complex forms. Each formation results from nature’s capacity to produce and transform itself since time immemorial. It reflects the inherent characteristic of matter in constant transformation, revealing the plasticity of these natural elements. In The Cave, nature follows its own course, creating structures that evolve, connect, and reorganize themselves, manifesting an aesthetic dimension that remains indifferent to human intervention.
Exposed Structure approaches construction as an open and unresolved condition, shaped by continuous transformation. The series assembles a set of images in which materials, forms, and spatial fragments are observed at different stages of exposure and reconfiguration. Moving between construction elements and traces of habitation, the photographs articulate a field where structure and use intersect. Clothing, furniture, and provisional arrangements emerge alongside wood, iron, stone, and cement, introducing a human presence that is indirect yet persistent. The work emphasizes relationships between volume, texture, and material tension, revealing how disparate components coexist and negotiate space. Construction is perceived not as a finished state, but as an ongoing process, marked by interruption, adaptation, and reuse. Exposed Structure reflect spaces in transition, suspended, incomplete, or partially revealed, where the underlying structure becomes visible. In doing so, it reflects on the interplay between space, time, matter, and human intervention, positioning each image as both document and material encounter.