Sarmento pays great attention to shape and profile and silhouette. The edit and the crop and the frame within which the action takes place are all equally paramount. Everything counts from the cut of a collar to the shape of a buttonhole. The length of a sleeve. How many fingers are visible, the articulation of an arm, the curve of a neck. The tone of a frock, the darkness of a bruise and the length of a scar. But he never elaborates, neves gives us more than we need. The little he gives us is already excessive.

Adrian Searle, The Watcher Watched, Flashback, 1999