Reconhecimento (Recognition)

Recognition confronts the human need to be seen, shaped by effort, expectation, and time. Emerging from a defining moment in Mendes’ early career in Brazil, the work captures a rare convergence in which both artist and model encountered recognition simultaneously.
The work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris (Expo Louvre 2015), marking an early moment of visibility that resonates with the themes explored in the piece.
The accompanying poem traces this pursuit across life, from childhood ambition to the pressures of youth and the discipline required to endure them. It reveals recognition as something earned through persistence and struggle, yet often delayed.
Formally, the image is constructed through multiple exposures, long exposure, and in-camera light painting. Colour is formed through movement and time, as light fractures and rebuilds the body. The final work is presented as a photographic print on canvas.