Text by Patrícia Barreira

"A Turtle with a Broken Back” is a photographic essay that portrays the communities and territory of São Tomé and Príncipe facing the challenges of resource scarcity and climate change, in a historical period that marks 50 years of its independence.

Each photograph in this project is a testimony to the complex dynamics of local domestic economies, where daily survival is linked to the historical consequences of the colonial past, and to the new challenges that the growth of tourism imposes.

Casanova uses solid images that are distant and circumscribed in a cohesive set, highlighting the isolated and autonomous nature of the islands, and the presence of narratives that involve myths, legends and personal stories. In this set of photographs, we find representations of the natural landscape of São Tomé and Príncipe, together with references to the traditions of the land and sea, the beliefs and ancestral knowledge of local communities, particularly applied to traditional architecture and herbal medicine, which capture the weight of time and the need to question the past but especially the future.

"A Turtle with a Broken Back" inherits the artist's interest in the allegorical and subjective readings of the photographic image, in a mix between the documentary and the metaphorical, seeking to unveil the layers of history and symbolism as well as the commitment to ecological sustainability present through images of São Tomé and Príncipe.