Photographing rainbow families

The artist began her journey in photography at the age of 19. The artistic family environment which she grew up in and her close contact with photography led Mag Rodrigues to enter a photography course while graduating in nursing. The nursing course arose from a need, as a young girl, to have to have a degree, but she soon realised that photography was her vocation.

The photographer has always tried to “pursue objectivity” in her work which integrates “documentary photography”, where linear themes are documented. Furthermore, the work done with the “rainbow families” can also be seen as an appeal to society to an existing reality.

The artist told The Portugal News that photographing homosexual families had two objectives, one of them being representation. Mag Rodrigues believes that the necessary representation does not exist or “reflects the number of [homosexual] families that exist in Portugal.” The artist's motivation was to “make visible” a reality that exists in large numbers. The other objective that led Mag Rodrigues to carry out the work was the fight against prejudice, namely homophobia.

Alleviating prejudice

The photographer would like to alleviate the prejudice that exists towards homosexual couples who manage to adopt or even have children, according to what is legal under Portuguese law. From the experience she had, Mag Rodrigues realised that it is not because two parents have the same sex that the child will no longer be exposed to “love and education”, as well as “respect”.

The artist was impressed with the number of people who responded to the “open call” made on Instagram. In addition to making the photographer understand the number of people who are part of the documented reality, the number of people willing to participate in the project was also a surprise.

Positive feedback

The feedback has been very positive, although the theme of the photographic project could trigger some negative comments, especially on social media. Mag Rodrigues admitted to The Portugal News that the work is more than an extension of itself and she just wants the photographs to “circulate” a little throughout the world.

On a final note, the photographer admits that it is difficult for her to know that there are forms of “violence, exclusion and marginalisation” against people who have not harmed anyone, she believes that this is an injustice. Mag Rodrigues also hopes that her work has some kind of “social consequence.”

Photos of Rainbow Families by : Mag Rodrigues

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos