During the summer of 2016 I photographed Trafaria Prison, an old political prison in front of Lisbon, where the last inmate left in 1975. I remained alone in its interior day by day, working on a project that would become simultaneously a representation of the real and the imaginary.

As I wandered through its inner space, I became part of it, gradually assimilating the emotion carried by the long wings of cells left to abandonment. I discovered that nature took over those cells, during 40 years of neglect. Roots coming from the outside through the broken windows and destroyed doors invaded their walls and floor. Some layers of the wall painting with different colors were removed by the time here and there, forming amazing drawings. The humidity ran down the walls.

The magic on the walls of the cells progressively revealed to me a universe of hallucination, inherent to those who are imprisoned, often tortured and confined in claustrophobic spaces for long periods of time.