Featured Photographer from Portugal.
I am Isabel Nolasco. I’m a Portuguese photographer specialized in street and travel photography.
I graduated in Law and worked in that area for more than 30 years, in Portugal and abroad, mainly in Timor-Leste where I lived for almost 10 years. Working abroad was an eye-opening experience for me. I learned to understand and respect other cultures and traditions other than mine, and also triggered me to deepen my connection with the world and myself. I started to question my life goals so far and decided to put my career aside and pursue my dreams of doing what I love: photography. So, I decided to quit my regular job and started learning photography in 2013. And never stopped since. I live with less but feel happy, free, and fulfilled. Looking back, I know it couldn’t have happened any other way.
As I became more and more interested in photography, I started learning photographic techniques in 2013 at the Instituto Português de Fotografia, in Lisbon. In Timor-Leste, I kept learning with other photographers, attended workshops and other activities within photography and developed my technical and editing skills. When I returned to Portugal in 2019, I graduated in a professional photography course at the World Academy Portugal.
Photography endures a constant learning process, is a vast subject that requires a continuous improvement in its multiple developments and technologies. In order to be a better photographer, one should always learn and be inspired by other photographers (from early to contemporary photographers), read a lot, watch tutorials, etc.
My favorite technic, as a street photographer is making photos handheld, use aperture or shutter speed priority (when needed), and shoot in RAW mode.
I own a DSLR Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a Leica V Lux-1. My favorite two lenses are the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8, and Canon EF 50mm f/1.4. When traveling I also bring a light tripod and a remote shutter.
I use Lightroom to editing my photos, and Photoshop for some retouching when needed.
I felt happy and excited especially the first time I was nominated, as it happened the immediate week after I joined Agora. Additionally, it´s always an honor to be nominated in such a community of great photographers. Finally, the credits and the stars are always welcome as they allow me to submit more photos to the contests and help to grow to a higher level in the Agora community.
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What I like best in Agora is the sense of community, and the closeness their founders have with that community. Plus, Agora is really committed to support talent worldwide and promote the work of photographers and video makers either on the platform and on social media. I find it the main distinctive characteristic and a very positive one, comparing to other platforms.
About my 7 winning photos, they have in common the fact they were taken during my travels, namely to Iran, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Those photos are all in black and white. They are also human-related, as the human element also is a fundamental part of my language. In fact, I ultimately found out that I really want to capture the human condition, the people and their cultures and environment. I have been developing a raw and more dramatic look and have started to edit my photos more and more in black and white. I think people who voted for my photos can relate to this message I wish to transmit.
I won a national award called “Discoveries Awards Via Verde” 2019 and an Honorable Mention from the Moscow International Foto Awards 2020.
I work full-time as a photographer. I published my first book “Latitudes da Semelhança” (https://poeticalivros.com/products/latitudes-da-semelhanca) in 2020, comprising the work I made in 2019 in Oman and Iran. I’m preparing a new book to be published in the next couple of months about the work I developed while living in Timor-Leste. I also have been making some shows in Portugal, and hopefully abroad as well, as soon as I can resume my travels.
Photography is my life, and has been a way to discover both the world and myself. I put all my emotion and effort into the photos I make, and I think this is what makes my photos more personal and distinctive and thankfully people start to recognize them.
My travels and the curiosity to discover other cultures and different people are the best challenges I face as a photographer. If I can capture some fragments of it and show them to the world, I’ll be happy and feel that I am a bit closer to accomplishing my goal of becoming a better photographer.
Tips, advice for the community
Practice, practice, practice. Learn from the best by seeing and being inspired by their work. Study and read about photography. Watch classic and great movies. Train your eye to see and compose the images. But never put your heart and emotions aside, they are paramount to find your own photographic language. Be humble. And never quit, even if you are not happy when you start taking photos. You’ll eventually get there, trust me.
Hereby I send a message of humanity that, amongst the diversities, and despite them, we ought to respect all beings of this world. We are one, and this planet is our home. Each one of us carries the responsibility to make this world a better one. Be kind!
WEB – www.isabelnolasco.com
INSTAGRAM – @isabelnolascophotography
Agora profile – @isabelnolasco
e-mail – photography@isabelnolasco.com
