The basis for this work is the iconographic research that the Brazilian artist has been conducting for years on the representation of black women in Brazil and
around the globe. Val Souza draws from a variety of sources (magazines, the Internet, books, social media, personal archives, etc.) and combines historical
images with contemporary photographs to better question the underlying violence of traditional representations of black bodies.
Image en une : © Val Souza
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Val Souza
Val Souza was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1985. The holder of a Master’s in Dance from the Universidade Federal da Bahia (Salvador) and a degree in Pedagogy from Mackenzie Presbyterian University (São Paolo), she is the recipient of the ZUM Photography Scholarship from the Instituto Moreira Salles
(2020), the “Life Before Colonialism” Prize from PLACE for Africa, MeineWelt e.V. and the Goethe-Institut Mannheim (2022), and the Alliance Française Photo Prize for Estudos Vênus #1 on the occasion of the Rencontres d’Arles Festival (2023). Souza was also selected in the “Nova Fotografia” program of the Museu da Imagem e do Som de São Paulo (2023), and awarded the First Prize in the Performing Arts section of Preta Hub’s Potências Negras (2023). In 2024, her artwork Vênus was included in Foam Magazine #65 Talent. That same year, Souza took part in the 2nd edition of Almeida & Dale Gallery’s
“Contra-Flechade” program. She is currently short-listed for the 9th edition of the Pampulha Scholarship.
