Cover photo Untitled by Olavo Azevedo
Rui Caires
I lived most of my life in Portimão, what, without me realizing it, cultivated my taste for the landscape of the Algarve coast. However, living in Lisbon was born out of a need I cultivated to expand what I interpreted as the space around me. It was a natural decision that did not involve any nervousness or resistance. It became the obvious step, an experience which I refused to abdicate from.
I didn't bring a clear expectation of what I was looking for, just an interest in discovering what it would be like to live in this new reality. Lisbon aroused in me the motivation to express myself unlike I had before.
Perhaps to capture this new beauty, despite being so different from what I was used to. More than adapting to the lifestyle, I fell in love with the rhythm, the people and the streets and I discovered that this was where it made sense to be. I can’t point exactly where the need to capture visually the emotions that each place conveyed to me emerged. But, once again, it was something that happened naturally. A need I reacted to. It was also this way that over the last two years I have tried to deepen my knowledge of photography. A constant reaction to the motivation I feel to improve what I am capturing. It also led me to discover the works of artists that inspire me and to learn to appreciate and identify the set of factors that contribute to a photograph that awakens in me the desire to transport myself to the place it portrays. The entire process has, to me, equal weight in the final product. Starting in the concept, to the choice of the location, then the process of capturing the image and, finally, the editing. It is a set of steps that define the inall product. The biggest gratification is the adventure that lies behind each project. When I now return to the Algarve, I go with a different vision. I look for a beauty I already knew before, but from a new perspective. I even choose to visit places I had never known, or paid enough attention to, when incredibly I lived right beside them
Hi Rui Caires, give us some background, how long ago did you start shooting and what made you start in this world of photography?
I started taking pictures in the end of 2018 when i bought my first camera, a crop sensor Canon. What made me want to start shooting was the city of Lisbon. I always liked landscapes and street pictures but one day a friend of mine lent me his camera and everything started from there
Do you remember the click that sparked your passion for photography?
I remember years ago seeing all this beautiful landscape award winning pictures and thinking “how they do this? How can a place be so beautiful?, I never saw this kind of light!”, then I learned that I had to find the right light in the right spot.
Who are your main influences on photography? And outside of it?
The city I live, Lisbon and the cities around it, mainly Cascais and Sintra. I take inspiration from other photographers too but I think everything comes from inside, its like a need to capture the world and make the moment last forever like in that second or minutes that you capture something.
I notice that most of your photos are landscape photography. Why choose landscape photography? Love at first sight or did you discover your relationship with landscape photography over time?
I do other types of photography too but my passion is landscapes. I love planning a picture, composing and getting the final idea done, and with landscape, for me, its more challenging, because you never know what to expect, the weather, the light, its always different in the same place. I also have a thing for colors and how a picture in sunrise and sunset makes the place so much more different
The photographers' creative process is often overlooked. Can you tell me a little about your processes? Not in terms of equipment or technique, but in terms of motivations, from finding a place to photograph to the final photograph.
Whenever you go out to photograph, have you studied everything already or do you let yourself be carried away by the moment?
I try to keep myself motivated by looking at others people photos and going to places I like, trying to find compositions. I usually have a place in mind and try to go there early to explore the location. I find myself going to the same location over and over because there’s always different challenges and types of light to capture. I mostly do sunsets and try to check the weather before but its always a surprise. Then I got home, I choose the best pictures and edit them in Lightroom and Photoshop. I love editing and its really where the final magic happens, I spend a lot of time learning new techniques.
I notice that Rui Caires regularly photographs Portugal. Any special reason? It’s 1where I live, there’s still so many places that I want to go here, I just have to go and explore.
CHRONICLES - RUI CAIRES
Antonio E. Ojeda
El Viso del Alcor (Sevilla) 1970 Self-taught photographer. My work is an attempt to show a kind of parallel reality at the same time as an attempt to fix the ephemeral, that which fades in time. What attracts me mainly in photography and in general is the here and now, that unique and fleeting moment, which has not been before and will not be after.
He held collective exhibitions of Street Photography in Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Paris, Florence, Bucharest. To date, I have two individual exhibitions: in Nantes (France) within the Atout Sud Festival in March 2019 and at the El Canguro Violeta Bar/Gallery in Piedrabuena, Ciudad Real (Spain) in May 2022. Also in September 2022, within the PhotoESPAÑA22 and MECA Mediterráneo Centro Artístico program, I participated in New York, in Culture Lab LIC at The Plaxall Gallery, in the collective exhibition Phantasia: Photography is Magic.
Hi Antonio Ojeda, give us some background, how long ago did you start shooting and what made you start in this world of photography?
I am completely self-taught, I have not taken courses, workshops, etc... everything I have learned has been based on photographing a lot. My interest in photography goes back a long time, first as an observer, then as a doer. In the mid-90s of the last century I bought my first camera, an analog Zenith, but it was not until about 8 years ago, and already with a digital camera, when I decided to dedicate more time to photography.
- ANTONIO E. OJEDA
Do you remember the click that sparked your passion for photography? there is not a single click, there have been many clicks, but what really sparked my passion was realizing that photography is magic that allows us to see a parallel dimension or vision, that allows us to capture the multiple planes that reality offers us.
Who are your main influences on photography? And outside of it? My influences are not in photography, they are rather in cinema and literature, which are very important to me. I started watching cinema when I was almost a child, at first European and North American cinema, directors like Truffaut, Fellini, Bergman, Dreyer, Kaurismäki, Rohmer, Kubrick...and so many others. But it was the discovery of aesthetics, rhythm, the way of narrate the oriental cinema, with Kurosawa as a great reference, which meant a before and after. Watching a lot of movies makes your vision more photogenic and teaches you to frame, to compose, to see the light...
I notice that most of your photos are street photos. Why choose street photography? Love at first sight or did you discover your relationship with street photography over time? When I started photographing I didn't know about street photography, but once I learned about it, its rules, its possibilities, it was like a crush, like love at first sight. For me it is the best way to try to capture the "Here and Now".
The photographers' creative process is often overlooked. Can you tell me a little about your processes? Not in terms of equipment or technique, but in terms of motivations, from finding a place to photograph to the final photograph.
Whenever you go out to photograph, have you studied everything already or do you let yourself be carried away by the moment?
Street photography has to be spontaneous, without intervening or preparing the scene, therefore when I go out to photograph I don't have anything studied, prepared. When I go to a place that I already know, I can intuit, for example, the light that I am going to find, the possibilities that I am going to have, but the scenes that later happen are totally spontaneous.
I have traveled to certain cities just for the sake of photographing in a certain place, but once there, everything has to happen naturally.
I notice that Antonio Ojeda regularly photographs Spain. Any special reason? Spain is where I live (specifically in El Viso del Alcor, Seville) and therefore it is where I go out to photograph the most. I also travel a lot to Portugal, being Lisbon for me, of all the cities I know, the ideal city for street photography (and to live).
- ANTONIO E. OJEDA
CHRONICLES - ANTONIO E. OJEDA
- ANTONIO E. OJEDA
CHRONICLES - ANTONIO E. OJEDA
- ANTONIO E. OJEDA
- ANTONIO E. OJEDA
CHRONICLES - OLAVO AZEVEDO
I am Olavo Azevedo and I was born in Portugal and live in a small village in the center of the country along with my wife Alice. I have two daughters who are living elsewhere. With academic training in the health area, finished my medical course at the university of medicine of Oporto and I exercise my professional activity as family doctor in the medical services of the city where I was born and where I live. We live in a rural area in a house surrounded by trees, flowers and the chirping of birds and stunning scenery to surround it. The photograph serves as an antidote and as an escape way for the requirement of the profession, allowing an inner peace sometimes shaken by the suffering of others.
www.facebook.com/olavo.azevedo.1/
Hi Olavo Azevedo, give us some background, how long ago did you start shooting and what made you start in this world of photography?
Self-taught, I started photographing in my teens. Like the vast majority of people, I started the photographic activity by recording everyday moments with friends, family, landscapes… serving for future memory and remembering times and places that certainly marked us and make us grow. Then I learned that as long as there is light and shapes highlighted by it, we can create visually appealing things and styles.
It was a period of research, observation and learning collected through the study of others authors in books, magazines and essentially through the web where we can learn through the observation of great talents, works with aesthetics and formal quality incredible, always being a source of inspiration. Essentially, I learned to like graphic photography that is often minimalistic, in which shapes, tones, contrast and light have a great relief and an aesthetics approach of their own. In this context, architecture emerged naturally within this evolution. The acquisition of a full frame camera and a 16-35mm zoom opened up previously unknown horizons, realizing the power and beauty that impact of lines, perspectives and overwhelming vanishing points represent in visual impact. Thus, architecture and graphic images started to have a different meaning and gradually led to a refinement in the sense of observing and anticipating the inal result of intended. Essentially, I learned to like graphical photography that is often minimalist having architecture emerged in a natural way within this evolution.
Do you remember the click that sparked your passion for photography? In fact, with easy and democratized access to information, the curiosity to observe new things and the appreciation of topics that arouse our attention, raises the bar and transpor us to others horizons. Learning to see differently was a key to perfecting styles. I learn that as a long as there is light and shapes highlighted by it, we can create visually attractive styles.
t was a period of research, observation and learning collected through other authors
Who are your main influences on photography? And outside of it?
There was no photo specifies that has inspired me, but the work as a whole of various artists whose photographic style fits in my photographic vision. It is the synthesis and analysis of works that seek inspiration having particular influence. Although nothing in my academic training call me to the ieldd of architecture, this is one of my favorite subjects, and especially modern architecture, in which their bold lines, challenging sometimes balance and imagination becomes a source of inspiration and an irresistible visual appeal. Decontextualization of the whole, transforming an obvious thing in a more abstract work and graphically more attractive and interrogative, leading the mind to flow freely to lead to a better interpretation of things according to the experienced and emotionally representative experiences. Of course, I have some favorite photographers of which highlight first the French, of Hungarian origin, Lucien Hervé, which combines a humanistic look at the architecture, the influence it had on my own photographic approach, having been seduced by his work just the first time I had contact with him through Reponses Photo magazine. I also appreciate the Swiss photographer Hélène Binet, very graphic works on architecture, highlight Michael Kenna for his minimalist works and many others
I notice that most of your photos are concept photography. Why choose concept photography? Love at first sight or did you discover your relationship with concept photography over time?
The evolutionary concept in photography is part of a continuous learning process based on observation and personal experience acquired over time and resulting from the aesthetic sensibility of each one. Personally, although I photograph diverse subjects covering several areas of photography, portrait, landscape, abstract, architecture represents a large part of my portfolio. Conceptual photography can be adapted to any subject according to its own concept and is intended to represent abstract ideas and emotions/sensations with aim of provoking a reaction from the viewer. One of the main characteristics of conceptual photography is to reflect on the scenes and prepare them to accentuate the message that you want to convey, whether in the view or in the application of the concept during editing, using creativity to represent it, providing an image that reflects the author’s idea and make the viewer see what the author intends, which may not necessarily be the reality as we observe it. The contrasts, the light, the shadows, the shapes and the “chiaroscuro” in truth always fascinated me. Although it was a primary love, reaching the objective oh reaching an acceptable level for publication took its time, where learning by observation, and fundamentally by trial and error, have played a leading role in obtaining acceptable and visually attractive results. The evolution of learning, particularly in editing in Photoshop, or any other editor that allows the application of gradients, allowed the realization of conceptual results in a visually attractive, aesthetically emotional way and according to a pre-defined vision during the analysis of the base photograph whit aim of provoking a reaction from viewer.
CHRONICLES - OLAVO AZEVEDO
I also notice that you have a special taste for black and white photography, why this choice?
At a time when we are almost permanently to access photographic devices where color is always present, opting for black and white photography is, above all, an aesthetics and creative option to achieve a result previously idealized and conceived with aim of create personal and observer sensations and emotions. Creating with the aim of transmitting or arousing some feeling through observation should be a goal that guides us. In my view, this objective, by removing color from an image through a well-executed process, removes clues that color provides contributes to timeless results, adds mystery and ambiguity to the scene, by making it less obvious, makes it difficult to recognize what we are observing and contributed to a better involvement of the observer in the attempt to make the image a real subject.
The photographers' creative process is often overlooked. Can you tell me a little about your processes? Not in terms of equipment or technique, but in terms of motivations, from finding a place to photograph to the final photograph. Whenever you go out to photograph, have you studied everything already or do you let yourself be carried away by the moment? It is important to make a preliminary study of what we can find in the places where we are going and that we intend to photograph according to our preferences and our personal vision and point them out. Let us waste time!
But don’t forget at the place:
- Look for part that represents the whole! The whole often leads to disappointment.
- Look for patterns, shadows, repetitive shapes, contrasts, etc; Framing your images and give attention to the edges and corners, and work it.
- Look for objects with potential, don’t look for great photograph;
- Maintain a positive attitude! Open the mind to see something new and creative; Explore! Move yourself. Get down, get up, look around, look inside, change your viewpoint, explore the scene from every angle, bend your knees. Put your camera down and explore the scene without it. Stop! When you are around for a while and you don’t find nothing interesting to photograph, stop. Go away and come back another day Dealing with disappointment! This is a very, very personal thing but think: in photography, like life, if you have a little rain, is good to appreciate the sunny days. Learning with your experience.
CHRONICLES - OLAVO AZEVEDO
I notice that Olavo Azevedo regularly photographs at Portugal. Any special reason?
There is no specific reason for this, but photographing inside the country is more comfortable and cheaper than to travel aboard with that intention and because we live here for a longer time. And there are such interesting things between doors!
However, the limitations that covid pandemic has placed on us during the last two years, contributed to a limitation of photographic activity due to the restrictions both on travel and on the possibility of contacts and visits. Many of the photographs published in these unexpected times are works done previously, reporting different places in Portugal but also aboard. After all, photography simple means having the will to do it, having access toa camera and stepping out our comfort zone, regardless of where we go. www.facebook.com/olavo.azevedo.1/
- OLAVO AZEVEDO
AUTHORS
PHOTOS
Untitled by Metin Yener
Thessaloniki Greece by Petros Kotzabasis
Wittenbergplatz by Aurélien Bomy (Berlin, Germany - 2022)
http://aurelienbomy-photographie.com
Léonard
The House of Knowledge by Martin Wacker Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus, Berlin, Germany
Untitled by 渡辺秋浩
Untitled by Timurtaş Onan
Best Friends by Roger Jones (Whitstable, Kent, England) www.facebook.com/RogerJonesPhotographer/photos_albums
Seaman on cargo vessel by George Koulouridis (port of Chalkis, Greece) IG: george_koulouridis www.georgekoulouridis.com
Two men in the road by David Wright
After meal by Luis Borges Alves (Morrocco) www.facebook.com/lborgesalves/ www.instagram.com/luisborgesalves/
Wedding in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria by Petko Atanasov www.facebook.com/PetkoAtanasovPhotography/ IG:oberon75
by
Wójcik
Cozinha by Fernando Peneiras (Vilarinho de Negrões, Montalegre, Portugal)
by Sanlui Ballesteros (Bumburet Valley, North of Pakistan)
Ukranien GP by Petr Kleiner
Epoi, a Kazakh teenager by Myriam Leplat (Kazakh family, Altai Tavan Bogd National Park , Western Mongolia) IG:myriam_leplat
Karo People area in Omo Valley River, South Ethiopia by Aharon Golani
En Route by Rudi Hendrickx Wyoming, USA
Happiest by Rajesh Dutta (Badkulla, Nadia, West Bengal, India)
Village Ribnovo,Bulgaria , Mustafa the shepherd by Milan Hristev www.milanhristev.com
stories by Adriana Ceausescu
De la serie Muros y silencio. 2022 by Yosvany Martinez (Matanzas, Cuba) IG:@yosvanyzz
Earning source of Light by Debratna Ghosh
IG:@subtle_elixir
Yağlı Güreş,Kırkpınar/Edirne, Turkey by Sultan Koç
The Monk by Selim Seval (Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia - 2002)
Portrait by Suvankar Roy IG:royphotosutra
Model: Mohanjit Kaur
www.instagram.com/seb_alias_
Model: www.instagram.com/leo_model_p
Untitled by Seb Alias (Normandy)
hardening under the Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic 11/2020 by Jan Kočičák Kočí
Reader by Karel Ševčík (Gorzanov, Poland) model: Angelika Szulc www.facebook.com/KIV.photography/ www.kiv-foto.com/en
The Farmers Wife by Colin James Watkins IG:#photoboothportraits
Strength by Zina Auzelyte (Vilnius, Lithuania) www.facebook.com/Zinaauz www.instagram.com/tit_foto/
Adam by István Mezo www.instagram.com/stevenfields_photography/
Studio portrait Rumst, Belgium 2021 by Fedor Vercammen www.fedorvercammen.com www.instagram.com/my.studio.be
Victoria by Nick van Dijk (Haarlem, the Netherlands) www.facebook.com/dtrdyk www.facebook.com/nickvandijkphotography/
Clelia by Roberto Zaninelli Model: Clelia @cle_ashjw
Untitled by Dmitrijus Skackovas (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Model - Simona Pušinskaite / Mua and Hair -Simona Pušinskaite
Kiara by Judith Onderstal (Heelsum, The Netherlands) www.instagram.com/judithonderstalfotografie www.jo-fotografie.nl/
Laura by Laura Giammichele
Re-cordis (otra vuelta al corazón) by Sil Nut Herrero Model: Luisana Caresia 68
Waiting summer by Jean Fraipont (La Panne, Belgium) www.facebook.com/jean.fraipont/
Stop this war by António Bernardino Coelho www.instagram.com/antonio_bernardino_/
Incognito in blue by Henk Veldhuizen
Visual Artist: Helma Hille www.helmahille.nl www.hajeve-pictures.nl 70
Hand study by Dominique Agius
Natasza Skrobisz by Mariola Glajcar
Eternity awaits.. by Panagiotis Grammatikakis
www.instagram.com/pan_gram__/
Model: Diana / www.instagram.com/dianachem/74
Model: Elyphis
Sensualité détaillée by Msieu D'heve (Rouen, France)
Shaping the corner by Marian Plaino Bucharest, Romania76
Untitled by Zurab Getsadze
by José Oliveira (Cais das Colunas, Lisboa, Portugal)
The curtsey by Fabrizio Secchi
Untitled by Josefina Melo
by
Yüce
Solitary by Lam Makmak Hongkong
Go to the unknow by 林茂榮 Yang ming shan, Taipei, Taiwan
Untitled by Robert Marzec
by Dan Leszek Kołudzki
Entitled by Robert Szumała
by Monika Baran
Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Meteora/Kalambaka, Greece by Anastasios Gialopoulos www.facebook.com/AnastasiosPhotographer/ https://1x.com/Anastasios
by Artur Kanicki (Borek village, near Żmigród City, Lower Silesia, Poland)
https://500px.com/p/nightdream?view=photos
Greetings from Valhalla by Adam Pachula (Haukland Beach, Lofoten) www.facebook.com/AdamPachulaPhotography www.adampachula.eu
Empty Echoes by Thomas de Franzoni (Enemonzo, Udine, Italy) www.instagram.com/thomasdefranzoni/ https://1x.com/thomasdefranzoni 85
Falu Red by Ludwig Riml (Hampetorp, Örebro County, Sweden)
the end by João Freire
The Trap by Pedro Filipe (Cabo Raso, Sintra, Portugal) IG: @mrpedroff88
serene velocity by Theodore Kefalopoulos (Stomio, Greece) www.facebook.com/TheodoreKefalopoulos www.teokefalopoulos.com
Untitled by Erminio Vanzan ermiv0.wix.com/visionicontemporanee
