Meditations is an ongoing series of abstract color photographs begun in 2024, created entirely within the darkroom. Each work is produced in total darkness, where the absence of sight becomes a method rather than a limitation. The process takes precedence over predetermined outcomes, allowing the image to emerge through a delicate balance of intuition, material sensitivity, and attentiveness. Through careful manipulation of light, color, and unconventional tools, Mariana Romão explores photography as a tactile, plastic, and performative medium, one that aligns as closely with painting and drawing as with the photographic tradition.

Inside the darkroom, time expands. Movements slow into gestures that feel almost ceremonial, shaped by breath, rhythm, and repetition. Light is no longer a tool for representation but a raw material to be sculpted. Chemistry becomes a collaborator, introducing elements of unpredictability that encourage a deeper surrender to process. Cameraless techniques invite direct engagement with the surface of the paper, highlighting the physical nature of the photographic object. Touch, proximity, and duration leave their imprint, revealing the photograph as a site where both control and chance coexist.

The works that result from these encounters do not aim to depict the external world. Instead, they cultivate spaces of contemplation, where color, form, and texture invite the viewer into a slower, more interior mode of perception. Variations of luminosity and hue become echoes of sensation and awareness, encouraging moments of introspection and stillness. The images function as meditative fields, open to emotional and sensory interpretation without the need for narrative or representation.

In a cultural moment defined by speed, precision, and constant image production, Meditations prioritizes slowness, fragility, and the value of embodied experience. The darkroom becomes a sanctuary that resists perfection in favor of transformation, where each print is shaped by the unique convergence of gesture, material, and time. Impermanence is embraced rather than erased, giving each artwork its own subtle irregularities and living presence. Meditations ultimately proposes photography as a mindful practice, one that honors vulnerability, presence, and the quiet dialogue between intuition and matter.