Cristina Dias de Magalhães’ Equivalents. States of Existence is a contemplative and poetic photo book that explores the emotional currents of grief, resilience, and identity through deeply personal, metaphor-laden imagery. Inspired by Alfred Stieglitz’s pioneering Equivalents series – photographs of clouds intended to reflect emotional states – Dias de Magalhães updates this idea with a contemporary, autobiographical sensibility, blending nature, family, and inner life into a quiet but resonant visual diary.
Structured across three interconnected series (Essence of Life, Equivalents, and Décollage), the book is less a traditional narrative and more a visual meditation. Each photograph feels like a fragment of thought – a symbolic gesture, a moment of clarity, or an echo of memory. Natural elements (water, sky, trees) mix with contributions from her three daughters, whose drawings add…