Manuel Francisco Sousa
Documentary, Printmaking, and Research in Lisbon, Portugal
Manuel Francisco Sousa
Documentary, Printmaking, and Research in Lisbon, Portugal
I work with documentary photography, portraiture, and printmaking. I am also a researcher.
In my practice, I am interested in foregrounding the conditions in which photographs of others are made, and their agency in the voicing of their representations. This relates to storytelling and to the nature of testimony. I am also particularly interested in shared narratives, collaborative processes, and ethnographic approaches.
I have developed projects across Portugal, Brazil, and Ukraine, where I have worked regularly since 2010. In the aftermath of the Maidan revolution, I engaged with testimonies and stories of people and place for the Beyond the Square project. These were exhibited the following year as part of the visual programme of the CANactions “Urban Studies” festival in Kyiv.
Printing is another important part of my activities. I am responsible for two digigraphie certified printing labs, in Lisbon since 2008 and more recently in Kyiv from 2015.
I am currently a PhD research student at the London College of Communication. My research interests are on the ethics of the documentary encounter between practitioner and participants. My methodological framework is informed by the fields of ethics and anthropology.
I am based between Lisbon and Kyiv, often also in London.