Portraiture Beyond the Human

Portuguese Queens

Reclaiming Power and Historical Memory

Portuguese Queens is a photographic series that reimagines historical female figures through a contemporary lens, exploring power, identity, and representation. Rather than reconstructing the past with accuracy, the work engages in a dialogue with history, questioning how women have been seen, remembered, and, at times, silenced.

Through carefully constructed portraits, the series draws from references to painting, fashion, and classical iconography, placing the female body at the center of a visual narrative that is both intimate and monumental. These figures exist between time periods, neither entirely historical nor fully contemporary, inhabiting a space where memory and imagination merge.

The work reflects on the symbolic weight of the queen, not only as a historical figure, but as an embodiment of authority, resilience, and presence. In doing so, Portuguese Queens becomes less about specific individuals and more about a collective representation of feminine power, reclaiming visibility within cultural and visual history.