Ever since I was a kid photography was all around me, my father was a hobbyist photographer, a very passionate one, so I grew on a steady diet of film development labs cameras and long random trips that would include a tripod set somewhere. As I grew, I ended up receiving a camera from my godfather, as both a present and a thank you for a photo that I took on his wedding, that to this day still lives in his living room.
As digital photography appeared I began to try my hand on it, always with small "point and shoot" style cameras, more often than not I ended dissatisfied with the results, I felt that for the photos to really Pop, I would have to edit them, something I never really enjoyed doing (at least back then). And for a long time, photography was a way to live up to my father's legacy. Although... I never did. I never really found my style of photography, and my social awkwardness made it that I never even really tried to take portraits.
This, with time, changed because I ended up befriending some wonderful photographers, each one with a unique style and a unique way to look at their art, from my former flatmate Sam (Portuguese), who to this day I have in high regard when it comes to fashion photography, to Angelo (Philipino), whose relaxed demeanour made me connect to him easily, his views on street photography ended up shaping my own, lastly (well I met more people, but has my top influences) I met Kawi (Dutch), a fashion and music photographer. These three I blame for my resurgence in the medium, if Sam taught me to look at faces and bodies differently, Angelo took me to the streets and finally Kawi gave me the joy of shooting film.
And starting around February 2018, when I on a whim got a disposable camera, I launched myself into film photography, getting back to a medium that loved, that both brought me joy as well as gave me a new sense of identity.
I started with exploring my surroundings, as again my social awkwardness and the fact that i had few friends near me, made me unable to shoot people, later on as I moved to Scotland I started taking photos of my friends, as well as getting some formal training.
I still don't feel I can call myself a photographer, as I lack experience and knowledge, but, I feel that in a near future this might change. This lead me to create this blog, to both share what I've been learning, to share my passion and to make my photography my own.
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