Cairo, 2013

Inventário is a collaboration with Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) about the museum collections and its ongoing renovation process.

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in collaboration with MHNC-UP/Colectivo, June 2016

Portugal, 2013–

The birth of science was the death of superstition.
—Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s bulldog).

We always searched for answers.
Throughout history, through the ages, we have been continuously looking for ways to justify our existence, reasons to justify what our minds could not. Since ancient times, the idea of cosmos responded to the human need to rely on the order of nature and the world, that can link and put things in order. However, this concept evolved through different civilisations and eras, the dawn of monotheism gave ground to the divine.

Healers, men and women of faith, said to hold the cure for all ills, to have the answers to all concerns. Bearers of wisdom that ordinary mortals could envision without ever understanding. Today, they seem to have disappeared, driven into obscurity by the impetus of scientific progress, remain there, hidden from the gaze of modern world.

Behind the Hill documents the healer’s practice and its deep connection to the native landscapes and plants of northeastern Portugal. In the physical and mystical realm, scenes often relate to nature and superstition. Proença catalogues rituals, artefacts, and performances linked to the land—overlooked by the western cumulative model of resource exploitation. The project points to the ongoing tension between technology and the natural world, it also explores humanity’s enduring quest for answers beyond purely an empirical framework.

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The series was exhibited during The New Talent (TNT 2019) at The Photographers’ Gallery (UK).

2011-2019

The Buzzer is a long-term photographic project that investigates the shifting identities and geopolitical fault lines of the post-Soviet space, focusing on the Baltic States and their complex relationship with Russia. Set primarily in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania between 2016 and 2018, the project examines how historical antagonisms between Russia and the West continue to unfold.

Through a combination of original photography, archival imagery, and extensive research, the work interrogates the transformation of these landscapes and societies under competing cultural and political influences. It documents military exercises, national celebrations, and everyday encounters across the region, while also delving into the parallel worlds of conspiracy theories, Russian propaganda, and echo chambers affecting public perception.

A key aspect of the project is the integration of archival materials—sourced primarily from the Estonian National Archives—which serve to reinforce the visual and historical ambiguity present throughout the narrative. These images highlight processes of acculturation and resistance across decades, showing statues raised and toppled, borders drawn and erased. By juxtaposing them with contemporary imagery, the work raises questions about the legitimacy of competing historical narratives and the construction of national identity.

The title, The Buzzer, alludes to a mysterious shortwave radio signal believed to be of Russian military origin—symbolic of the ghostly presence of a former empire and the unresolved tensions. The project situates the Baltic region as a geopolitical buffer zone, both historically and today. With references ranging from the medieval Battle on the Ice to present-day NATO operations, it explores how spaces, myths, and power are contested and reshaped.

Rather than offering a segmented or didactic narrative, The Buzzer weaves together multiple layers—past and present, fiction and fact, nostalgia and fear—ultimately reflecting on the fragile, evolving nature of identity in a landscape marked by surveillance, occupation, and resilience.

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© National Archives of Estonia/Rahvusarhiiv for the archival images

In 2019 the book dummy was shortlisted for the MACK First Book Award, Unseen Dummy Award and Fiebre Dummy Award, being exhibited at Photo London (UK), Unseen Amsterdam (NL) and Fiebre Photobook Festival (ES).

2015–2019

Porto, 2019—