Joao Coelho hardly needs an introduction, he is a well known personality in the world of photography. He is a lawyer by education, and after a career in banking, he embraced a position as an auditor and consultant in Angola, about 15 years ago. Returning to Angola, where he was born, it was a calling that has always been present in his life after he left the country as a teenager due to the war of independence against the Portuguese. He is also the brand ambassador of the famous 1x.com which is a dedicated website of photography. Joao Coelho has been documenting people’s lives and romance with monochrome has been his forte.
It was a heart-to-heart conversation with Mr. Coelho, thanks to the internet which has made it possible. It was a much awaited interview which is finally here along with the mesmerising works of this brilliant photographer.
Interview
Joao Coelho – the man & the photographer.
Photography has been a passion since I was 19, when I could afford a camera. I have always been an autodidact, everything I know today was the result of countless trials and errors, in a learning curve where the will and desire for continuous improvement were the great drivers. After acquiring my first camera, I focused on landscape and portrait photography, having published some articles in Portuguese specialty magazines. Photography was dormant in my life for several years, until the contact with the people and stories that I lived every day in Angola, drove me to documentary photography. I had to overcome several obstacles, from overcoming the fear of photographing in the street due to the high crime rate in this country, to developing techniques to approach people, because resistance to photography and to the photographer are huge in Angola. These techniques were determinant not only to shape my style of documentary photography, which is of great proximity to my subjects, but also to enrich the narratives of my work.
What made you fall in love with Black and White photographs, how did the romance with monochrome happened?
Black & White allows me to better express my messages and convey the emotions and feelings I want with my photography. Although Africa is a continent known for its warm and vivid colors, it is in B&W that the stories I tell acquire greater strength, drama and impact. That is very important when you want to use photography to draw attention and alert to social issues or when you want to provoke reactions in your audience. Secondly, B&W enables a wider editing capability without harming the subject and without falling into a rendering that makes the whole set artificial. Finally, B&W has always exerted a huge fascination on me, because of its timelessness and the enormous legacy that the great masters of photography left us. The study of this legacy was a very important part of my training and development as a photographer.
What makes a good photograph – is it the camera, the lens or the photographer himself?
In this regard I like to quote Ansel Adams’ words: “The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it”. No matter how much one invests in expensive or state-of-the-art photography equipment, what will determine a good photograph will always be the photographer. The advent of digital photography has, of course, offered a panoply of features and even automatisms that somehow dispense with basic and essential knowledge of the fundamentals of photography. But everything that makes a photograph stand out are elements that depend intrinsically on the photographer: the composition, the choice of the famous “decisive moment”, the choice of POV, DOF and focal length, or the mere decision of whether that shot is really capable of telling a story. It is not uncommon to come across iconic photographs taken with a simple cell phone or a low-cost camera.
What are your thoughts on modern day photography?
Modern photography has evolved into a myriad of styles in which its correct definition or qualification is sometimes difficult. I have already mentioned the fact that photography and digital editing have revolutionized access to features and horizons previously impossible to imagine, even through very simple tools such as cell phones, This universality and democratization of photography has had a first major effect: It has awakened the interest in photography of a staggering number of people who publish millions of photographs every day and where you can find true pearls in various styles. Personally I don’t much appreciate photography that is so digitally processed that it departs radically from reality. I accept that it is art, but it is a hybrid form that is closer to mixed techniques than to photography itself. This is not to say that I am a purist to the point of defending SOOC, because I think the most important thing that digital has provided, in my opinion, is the unprecedented ability to edit photography. Interestingly, I also think that the most interesting aspect of modern photography is precisely analog photography. It is interesting and very challenging to realize that film never died despite the advent of digital, and that it attracts more and more photographers. In addition to an unbeatable resolution, it is a photography that really requires deep knowledge on the part of the photographer and continues to exert an enormous fascination. It is no wonder that the great names in modern photography shoot on film.
Tell us about your published books on photography?
I have work published in three books of collective photography and last year I published a book about a documentary made in Angola, a story about children who have fun sliding on top of turtle shells, launching themselves from mountains made of seashells. This book led to a solo exhibition in Italy. This year I was the curator (and co-author) of a book on B&W photography that features 30 international authors and will be released next month. This project was very interesting and inspiring because it required me to identify authors who have excelled internationally in various styles of B&W photography, including analog photography. Finally, I am in the final stages of completing a project to publish an individual book about the story of a community that lives and works in a dump. This book is part of a larger project that aims, with this photo reportage and exhibitions about it, to raise funds to provide this community with water, health care, and basic education for children.
Tell us about your country and it’s photography culture.
Angola is a country that, despite being very rich in natural resources, is going through a huge economic crisis that has lasted for many years. The great corruption and the lack of distribution of wealth have led to more than half of the population living below the poverty line. Despite an enormous richness for photography, in subjects, people and stories, it is very difficult to photograph in this country. Security is one of the biggest problems, I can’t just go out into the street to photograph because I run the risk of being mugged. Interestingly, this problem also exists in relation to the police itself, because I have been arrested three times for photographing people in need on the street. Secondly, and as I mentioned before, there is a lot of resistance from people to photography and to the photographer, much due to local beliefs. For example, mothers don’t usually allow children to be photographed for fear that they will be taken somewhere else. So, it is a culture that requires study, planning, and a lot of determination and patience to be able to photograph.
I have been arrested three times for photographing people in need on the street.
Do you have any memorable photograph in colour?
There is, in fact, a color photograph that has stuck in my memory for several reasons. It is a shot made at the dump where I am doing my project, it was made at the end of the day under extremely difficult conditions, not only because of the available light, but mainly because of the environment of toxic fumes. It is an example of the working conditions of this community, who every day inhale dangerous substances from the burning of plastics and rubbers. In this case, I opted for the color because this is the only way I could transmit that ambience. It also stuck in my memory because a few days later I fell ill with a serious lung infection.
What’s in Joao Coelho’s camera kit bag?
I am currently using a Canon R5, the incredible resolution of its sensor allows me to shoot in very poor light conditions and do pronounced crops without losing quality because I use mostly a wide-angle lens. Over 90% of my photography is close-up with my subjects, so my preferred lens is a 16-35mm, almost always used at its shortest focal length. Occasionally I use a 70-200 mm when I don’t want to disturb a scene and want to keep my distance.
Finally your valuable advice to the youngsters who are reading this interview.
My first advice is to go out and practice and be more and more demanding of yourselves. This is the only way you will develop your knowledge and skills, and your critical sense. Secondly, don’t be afraid to explore new styles or dimensions of photography, it will lead you to really discover the one that motivates you the most. Always remember that photography is a passion that requires continuous inspiration and renewal. Third, read or study books and articles, and participate in forums where photographs are openly appreciated and given constructive criticism. This allows you to hone your ability to evaluate and criticize. Finally, don’t forget to always be very critical about your own work, only publish what you are fully satisfied with even if you have to wait a while. In this way you implement an improvement routine based on quality criteria.
PHOENIX PHOTOGRAPHY 