Nuno SerrãoPT
Selected works02 / Photographic series

The Cartography of Causality

Nuno Serrão
Photography & moving image

Even dead-end roads lead somewhere

Artist’s statement
A green wooden platform and railings face a rough sea beneath an overcast sky.
01The Cartography of Causality
An empty road junction borders green fields, with a metal barrier and utility poles.
02The Cartography of Causality
A cracked concrete surface ends beside grass, with the sea and clouds beyond.
03The Cartography of Causality
A barrier closes a road leading towards an electrical substation and power lines.
04The Cartography of Causality
An empty road curves between high concrete walls beneath streetlights.
05The Cartography of Causality
A narrow pale road winds through vegetation towards electrical pylons.
06The Cartography of Causality
A road curves through a concrete tunnel lit by fluorescent tubes.
07The Cartography of Causality
An empty asphalt road runs between greenhouses and a high concrete wall.
08The Cartography of Causality
A road bends through a dark covered passage, with trees visible between its columns.
09The Cartography of Causality
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The Cartography of Causality — Nuno Serrão
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Artist’s statement

02 / Nuno Serrão

Most paths are worth taking, even the ones that, in the end, make us walk back. These roads, devoid of human presence yet heavy with human implication, become markers of absence and possibility, not just as a path but as a decision.

This project explores the tension between connection and separation, movement and stillness, between the gravity of causality and the fear of the unknown.

Shot on medium-format analog film, the images embrace the slowness of process, mirroring the reflective nature of a long, meandering journey. Each photograph invites the viewer to step into the discomfort of uncertainty, and consider the roads taken, the roads abandoned, and the roads yet to be discovered.