That’s quite a statement from a five year old but what makes this anecdote even more interesting is that Joao Carlos loves natural light. “There is no greater light than sunlight,” says the photographer, who has lit major campaigns with nothing more than the sun and reflectors. That’s not to say he doesn’t ever use artificial light; in fact, Joao Carlos is a wizard at adapting to whatever tools are available and has even used the pop-up flash on his H4D-40 when necessary.
That Joao Carlos is technically skilled is unquestionable but his images clearly show his creativity and talents as a storyteller and the pride this American photographer has in his Portuguese heritage. For his Masters Emotion project, Carlos traveled to Portugal to produce a series of beautiful images based on famous “love tragedies” such as the Portuguese “Pedro and Ines” (page 44) and “Romeo and Juliet.” Other images are reference the tale of the Lady in the Lake (pages 34-35, with wild boar “Helmut” from House of Deads) and he and his fiance have created a series of spontaneous “Bunny” images when traveling using a bunny mask they found in a shop in Toronto. A prolific shooter, Carlos is always busy—shooting editorials, advertising campaigns, personal work and giving back to the community by volunteering to photograph for the March of Dimes.
Joao Carlos is currently expanding his love tragedies and is talking with a publisher about producing a book of the series. Be sure to visit his website and blog to keep up with the latest news from this extremely talented photographer.
www.joaocarlosphoto.com
http://www.victorbyhasselblad.com/en/magazine.aspx?
