01 · The two figures
Two women, one work
Lourdes and Rosa occupy separate panels, yet they belong to the same composition. The physical division does not break the bond; it makes it visible.
Female Portraits: Una Mirada al Pasado
Respect
2023
Respect (2023) is a large-scale contemporary artwork by Spanish-Brazilian artist Séfora Camazano. Inspired by Stroll on the Beach by Joaquín Sorolla, it reinterprets the historic composition to explore dignity, gender-based violence, memory and resilience through the stories of Lourdes and Rosa.
Available
Technique
Mixed media — photography, digital painting and acrylic. Giclée print on 100% acid-free cotton canvas with conservation-grade UV varnish
Dimensions
201 × 200.5 cm (79.13 × 78.94 in)
Year
2023
Series
Female Portraits: Una Mirada al Pasado
The protagonists
The story of Lourdes and Rosa
Respect presents Lourdes and Rosa at almost life-size, united within a composition more than two metres wide. Dressed in white and surrounded by flowing veils, they seem to move through an atmosphere suspended between air and water: a space that is beautiful, yet also oppressive, where breathing appears impossible.
The work does not merely illustrate an experience of gender-based violence. It examines how fear can appropriate the word “respect” and transform it into obedience. Against that distortion, the portrait restores its meaning as recognition of dignity, autonomy and every person’s right to rebuild their life.
“Respect” does not name obedience imposed through fear, but the dignity Lourdes and Rosa reclaimed by rebuilding their own lives.
Lourdes
A 55-year-old Spanish woman, Lourdes lived through complex family circumstances that profoundly shaped her life. For years, she carried a reality invisible from the outside, inhabiting a space of tension and unspoken silence.
Her story is one of conscious transformation: the moment she chose to rebuild herself through dignity. Today, her presence embodies resilience and the ability to transform experience into a form of self-defined identity.
Rosa
A Spanish woman, Rosa lived through deeply complex personal experiences from childhood that shaped her perception of the world and of herself. Her story unfolds within a context where the unspoken and the inherited acquire a silent weight.
Over time, she embarked on a profound process of transformation. Today, her journey reflects a conscious reconstruction in which experience becomes knowledge and a way of supporting others. In her, strength is expressed through calm, clarity and endurance.
Rosa shares her story · Valencia, 2021
The meaning of the title
Why this work
is called Respect
During the creative process, the word respect ceased to be an abstract concept. In the testimony of one of the protagonists, it appeared as a term used to describe its complete opposite: obedience demanded through fear.
The work emerges from that contradiction. It does not present respect as submission, silence or renunciation, but as recognition of another person’s dignity and freedom. Lourdes and Rosa are not defined by what they endured, but by the awareness with which they reclaimed their own presence.
“Respect cannot be demanded through fear. It begins when another person’s dignity is no longer negotiable.”
Visual reading
Symbols that shape
the meaning of the work
02 · The veil
A connection in motion
The veil crosses the space between the two figures. It may be read as shared memory, fragility or an invisible force that keeps them connected.
03 · The wide-brimmed hat
Elegance and protection
The wide-brimmed hat partially conceals Lourdes’s face. More than an accessory, it acts as a symbol of protection, privacy and strength. Its presence introduces a tension between what remains hidden and what is chosen to be shown to the world.
04 · The bare foot and the shoe
Vulnerability and protection
Rosa’s bare foot contrasts with Lourdes’s black shoe. Two different ways of moving forward: one exposed, the other protected and contained.
05 · The parasol
A silent burden
The parasol establishes a direct dialogue with Sorolla’s painting, but here it acquires a different meaning, becoming a metaphor for the invisible burden Lourdes carried for years.
06 · Scale
A human-scale presence
At more than two metres wide, the work compels the viewer to encounter the protagonists physically rather than observe them from a distance.
Curatorial reading
Between the beauty of the image
and the tension of lived experience
Respect uses beauty as an entry point, not as a means of concealing conflict. The luminosity, the white dresses and the movement of the fabrics recall Sorolla, but the atmosphere is no longer merely Mediterranean. It becomes psychological.
The protagonists move forward, although we cannot know with certainty where they are going. The scene retains movement while also conveying a sense of suspension. This ambiguity allows the work to speak about the difficulty of leaving a reality behind, reclaiming one’s own body and occupying space again with autonomy.
The work does not represent violence. It represents what remains when a person refuses to let fear determine the meaning of their life.
Artistic reference
Inspired by Joaquín Sorolla
Respect was inspired by Joaquín Sorolla’s Stroll on the Beach (1909). The composition of two female figures dressed in white and walking across the sand, with veils and fabrics moving in the sea breeze, enters into direct dialogue with the luminosity and movement characteristic of the Valencian master.
Stroll on the Beach
Joaquín Sorolla, 1909
Creative process
The photographic session
and the studio
Respect in the artist’s studio
Exhibition history
Respect in distinguished venues
The Westin Hotel Valencia
Valencia, Spain
Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia
DONAiDONA Special Edition, Spain
Former Town Hall of Bétera
Bétera, Spain
Coming soon
Respect
Publication 2026 · Vol. II
Respect
The Art of Being Seen
Female Portraits: Una Mirada al Pasado, Vol. II
Inspired by the artwork Respect, from the collection Female Portraits: Una Mirada al Pasado, this book explores the creative and human process that gave rise to one of the most significant works in the series.
Beginning with the real stories of Lourdes and Rosa, the book traces more than two years of conversations, artistic decisions and discoveries that transformed two life testimonies into a single work of art. It is a reflection on dignity, memory, gender-based violence and the capacity to rebuild.
This page presents the essential keys to the artwork. The book will reveal its complete journey.
Request publication notificationGalerie Portraits
Related editions
Each artwork includes
Certificate of authenticity signed by the artist
Complete technical documentation
High-resolution photographic documentation
Personalised guidance for the collector