Monsaraz, 1996, by Paulo Nozolino is Collection Caixa Geral de Depósitos’ current highlight as the work is on loan to the collective exhibition Thalassa! Thalassa! The sea and the Mediterranean in the work of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andersen. The show, curated by Isabel Inácio and Santiago Macias, is open at Centro de Artes de Sines, from July 13 to October 15, 2024.

Nozolino's photographic art does not concern itself with reports or documentaries about places, individuals or journeys. Rather, it is an active perspective which emanates from a sharp outlook on the world around him. “Nozolino’s photographs show that in order to recognize the world we live in it is necessary to make it problematic.” (Sérgio Mah). Making use of a Leica analogue camera and 35 mm black and white film, Nozolino holds back the fleeting world of technology and the savagery of progress by turning to an exact, slow and contemplative measure of time, which shows his political concerns, is critical of the evolution of society and is “looking for justice in a world that is not fair.” (Paulo Nozolino). The very dark and contrasted photographs reveal a meaningful shadow. “Shapes are made and unmade in the shadow.” (Jorge Calado). In the series of photographs about Monsaraz “the village does not exist, it is an expanse, odd black and white wall, with a place name and a human figure, both with their back turned to us, the drama of an expressionist film.” (Raquel Henriques da Silva). These images of time suspended, in contrast with a world in constant change, disclose one of the essential premises of Nozolino's work: the noise of silence or the silence of noise. “My job is to show what I have done through silence.” (Paulo Nozolino). By creating a nostalgic image and focusing on a sign and a human figure traversed by a white wall, the photographer questions his place and purpose. A question that turns a world of noise into stillness, unveiling its stories, decays, experiences, ruins, destructions and scars. “It is the story of how his look discovers things.” (Rui Nunes). “Nozolino's look wants to go to a point where it has never been – far, far back. The journey promises to be long and time-consuming and yet the photographer says it is only now truly beginning.” (Sérgio B. Gomes).

Nozolino was born in Lisbon in 1955. He studied at the London College of Printing in the 70s and lived in London until the end of the 80s. He then moved to Paris, traveling frequently the Arab world and Europe, especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall. An anthological exhibition of his work entitled Nada was held at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, in 2002. He returned to Portugal later that year. In 2005, Museu Serralves presentsa retrospective exhibition of his work entitled Far Cry, which is also the first retrospective exhibition of a contemporary Portuguese photographer.

Hugo Dinis