Aleksandr Shadrin, 'Linha do Mar'

“Perhaps you don’t know why I brought you here, on this journey without a real end or useful purpose. It  wasn’t, as it might have seemed, to violate or seduce you. Those things happen on Earth, among animals — which include men — and, I was told from down there,  they even seem to bring pleasure to the victims.” — Fernando Pessoa, The Hour of the Devil 

In December 2013, six students died on Meco Beach, Portugal. According to one version, it happened  during an unofficial student ritual. The only survivor was an older student, the leader of the ritual, who  called himself dux. The investigation provided no answers. The state remained silent. Meanwhile, Praxe —  a centuries-old student initiation tradition combining play, hierarchy and submission — continues across  the country. 

The tragedy on Meco Beach may have been part of Praxe, a test in which ritual becomes a form of  discipline, and discipline becomes the language of belonging. Students stand with their backs to the ocean, blindfolded. For each wrong answer, they take a step backward — closer to the water. The ritual symbolizes purification through fear and the transition from darkness to light. This is called Linha do Mar. 

Belonging here requires sacrifice. It is a voluntary renunciation of the self in exchange for inclusion in a social body. Individuality becomes excessive, dissolves. Self-erasure is not a side effect — it is the condition for acceptance. 

Linha do Mar is a photo project about the fragile line between ritual and abyss, between knowledge and  submission, between symbol and reality