©Márcia Charnizon, Essa sua liberdade incomoda demais Your freedom bother too much , from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

This week we will dive into the feminine universe, addressing topics that are often controversial and stigmatized. We address violence, sexism and misogyny through the work of Márcia Charnizon and Juliana Sicoli.

Márcia Charnizon is a Brazilian photographer and visual artist with a degree in Social Communication from PUC-MG – Brazil. Since 1986, she has combined diverse artistic practices, blending photography, video, writing, and sound art, focusing on identity transformations and their social constructions. Márcia is interested in observing the world and history through a woman’s perspective, a focus that has shaped her work for over 30 years. For Márcia, photography is rooted in intimacy and collaboration, where she deeply connects with the personal stories, desires, and struggles of those she photographs, understanding that this level of connection can only arise from a shared space of trust. Her practice often questions social norms, especially through the exploration of gender, identity, and the political nature of representation, encouraging new ways of engaging with differences and understanding diversity.

Márcia Charnizon’s work challenges normative representations, encouraging new ways of engaging with differences and understanding diversity. She has held both solo and group exhibitions in Brazil, the USA, Italy, Israel, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. She published the book *Memorabilia da Casa do Azevedo* and received the Funarte Marc Ferrez Photography Prize. Her work is part of the Brazilian Contemporary Photography Collection at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF)

Instagram: @marciacharnizonoficial

©Márcia Charnizon, Não gosto de fechar negócio com mulheres I don’t like making business with women, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

Caça às Palavras ( Word Hunt )  – STATEMENT

Before physical aggression and even femicide, there is a hidden violence—the violence of discourse. Hate crimes are preceded by hate speech, and what drives me to create this work is the thought that, if words can kill, what happens when these words aren’t even recognized as violent?

Understanding that a violent act is an act of stripping someone of their agency, this work seeks to break the silence by gathering women over the age of 50, who undress each in their own way, showing their marks through violent phrases that have been part of their lives. Each photograph is a chapter of a story, in which many other women see themselves reflected—stories with sexist, racist, and misogynistic discourse that act as triggers for violence in our social relationships.

Like the red light of a darkroom where latent images are revealed, what is unseen to the naked eye appears on the bare bodies, in this word hunt game.

©Márcia Charnizon, Chama a dona da casa Call the owner of the house, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

What led you to work with photography?

I am captivated by identity transformations and their diverse social constructions, observing how they manifest within the dynamics of the contemporary world. Photography connects me with a wide range of people, places, and situations, and through it, or by blending different artistic languages, I explore how these identities interact with present-day tensions, such as cyberculture, gender, discursive violence, the collapse of binary structures, and politics. My goal is to create images that provoke reflection, opening new perspectives on how we live with differences and confront emerging conflicts, offering a space for expressions that challenge fixed and normative categories.

Through this experience, I find that photography expands and distinguishes me. What drives me is how the experiences of others transform and enrich my own.

Today, I understand that the act of photographing is what teaches me most about listening, embracing others, and suspending judgments that would otherwise be shaped by my own limitations. When someone stands before me, whoever they may be, there is always a desire to be seen, to express, to exist and be acknowledged — and it is my responsibility to create that space for connection. For me, photography only truly happens within this relationship; it is the bond with those who cross my path that sustains and defines my work, which always unfolds within an intimate space, a space that I deeply cherish.

©Márcia Charnizon, Feministazinha emancipada
Emancipated little feminist, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

What motivates you to start a new project? Do personal experiences influence you when choosing themes for projects?

What drives me in creation, especially when starting a new project, is the constant need for reinvention, for exploring new horizons, and for challenging my own limitations.

I am always drawn to themes that push me beyond myself, beyond what is familiar, that require the ongoing practice of otherness — looking towards the other, towards the unknown. For me, the creative process is, therefore, an internal and external expansion, where I make room for new ways of seeing and interacting with the world.

A project is born from an encounter that deeply moves me, provoking transformation. Themes may arise from personal experiences or from those of others. What matters is the intensity and the way these experiences affect me. Regardless of their origin, they are always connected to my internal questions and what I am living or reflecting upon at the moment. This deep connection is what turns an experience into a subject for my work.

©Márcia Charnizon, Namoro ou estudo, as duas coisas não podem Dating or studying. You can’t do both , from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

What led you to develop the “Word Hunt” series? Could you talk a little about this project?

The project began in 2020, during a conversation with people involved in the election of a councilwoman from Belo Horizonte (my city), Cida Falabella, when I was deeply disturbed by the number of misogynistic and ageist messages that she and many other women were receiving. It was then that I realized that, in my city alone, there are nearly 1,500 cases of domestic violence every month.

Talking about femicide or physical aggression is always urgent, but there is also a subtle, everyday violence that arrives in small doses, in the form of microaggressions — discursive violence. These symbolic oppressions gradually shape the perception of women as objects. The signs and narratives associated with this type of violence are triggers of oppression, and I became interested in exploring how women over 50 experienced this (the age I was when I started the project) and how they perceive this violence today.

I photographed in my bedroom, within a space of intimacy, where each woman undressed (each in her own way), bringing me a violent phrase that, in some way, marked her life. These words transformed into a projection of a word search grid on their bodies, interacting with each person in the scene. Each woman is nude, but it is not about the objectification of her body; rather, it is about the existence of this social body, marked by symbolic violence. The portraits were created in collaboration with each person, avoiding reinforcing the image of an oppressed, hurt, or victimized woman. On the contrary, each one faces the camera with determination, with the strength of someone who holds her own journey in her hands.

Another important aspect of the work is the repetition of elements — saying again what has already been said. The same place where all the women pose, the same red tone… I am talking about one thing, but if you pay attention, there are different stories. I wanted to create this poetic sense of the collective, revealing distinct nuances within the repetition.

The work is now part of the Brazilian Photography Collection at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF).

©Márcia Charnizon, Vai lavar a vasilha, mulher Go to the dishes, woman, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

©Márcia Charnizon, Assim vestida está pedindo para ser estuprada You are asking to be rapped, dressed like this, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

©Márcia Charnizon, Você está velha para isso You are too old for this, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

©Márcia Charnizon, Voce nunca vai ser feliz sem um homem You will never be happy without a man, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

©Márcia Charnizon, Você é muito machona You are too macho, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

©Márcia Charnizon, Separada com três filhos, quem vai te querer Divorced with three kids, who’s gonna want you?, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

©Márcia Charnizon, Mulher que não é mãe não envelhece bem Woman who is not a mother doesn’t age well, from Caça as palavras ( Word hunt )

CENTENNIALS / statement

 I listen to and photograph teenagers from diverse backgrounds in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, aged 16 to 19 (cisgender women, transgender individuals, and non-binary people), whose experiences have, from an early age, been shaped by resisting societal norms—whether through their bodies, issues of sexuality, gender, race, family relations, or all of these combined. This generation has their adolescence deeply affected by the pressure and ambiguity of social media expression. Real names or fake, truth vs. lies, selfies vs. anonymity. They are growing up in a time where we witness the collapse of the binary structure (man vs. woman, feminine vs. masculine, heterosexual vs. homosexual).

For this garden of dualities and uncertainties, I create portraits that appear alongside what would be the opposite of a representation—animated GIFs with (almost) undefined pixels that become performances in themselves.

The work brings together fragments of deconstructed images that move in a continuous flow and portraits that stare back at me. I am moved by the voices of these teenagers, reminding me that becoming is a constant state.

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

©Márcia Charnizon, from the the Centennials series

Born in the Northeast of Brazil and based in São Paulo, Ana Leal is an artist who works primarily with photography. Leal investigates ephemerality and impermanence through records of the minutiae of nature and everyday life. With a strong influence of minimalism and impressionism, her works dialogue with abstraction and have a strong poetic charge.

Leal is a Gold Award winner at the 2020 TIFA and the 15th Julia  Margaret Cameron Award Winner in the abstract category. She also received a Bronze Medal at the ND Awards 2021 and Honorable Mentions at the IPA 2021, Rotterdam Photo 2021, Prix de La Photographie Paris 2019, and The 15th Pollux Awards. She completed her MFA at the Miami International University of Arts and Design (2018) and the Professional Photography Course at the Pan-American School in São Paulo (2013). Her work is part of the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts – FMoPA collection.

Instagram:@analealphoto