Photography by Mário Macilau

Mário Macilau’s photographic practice explores identity, political dynamics, and environmental change, focusing on marginalized communities striving to reclaim their voices. Portraiture is central to his practice, creating intimate connections that reflect broader social narratives. Harvest in Fragments presents a woman behind fractured glass. The seasons no longer follow their rhythm, and the crops she once trusted now grow uncertain. Still, she plants with hope. In every shard, the splinters of an unraveling ecosystem serve as a warning. Yet she remains rooted not only for herself, but for all of us. In her presence is resilience and a powerful call to mend what is broken, to listen to the land, and to remember who feeds us. Recent exhibitions include Free the Land!, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, New York, (2025); Immediacy, Franco-Mozambican Cultural Center, Maputo, (2024); On Faith, Ed Cross Fine Art, London, (2023). Mário Macilau received the James Barnor Photography Prize and the Roger Pic Prize in 2023.