Home > Featured Member Photographers > December 2009: Mario Azevedo
For many photographers, the problem of “what to photograph” comes up at some point in our progression of skill. It is all too easy to say, “Well, I don’t have anything good to take photos of, so I cannot make any good photos.” But the fact of the matter is that you do not need to be traveling to far off places, surrounded by super models, or able to dive to the ocean floor to make great images. Great images are all around you every day.
That is why I have a particular respect for the work of this month’s featured member. Mario Azevedo excels in finding the extraordinary images in subjects and places that many of us would call nothing more than “ordinary”. Places and subjects we all walk by and see often, perhaps even every single day. But Mario has the eye to look deeper and say, “I can make something of this” and then to do exactly that. It is a skill that many of us could stand to work on.
Explain how you see your body of work and what draws you to do the photography that you do?
MARIO: Photography is a way of expressing myself. It is a cry for others to see the things I felt or dreamed. A journey to be made, and at the end, to find something new and grow with all the things discovered in this process. Making photography is almost as old as myself, so I got used to live with it as almost a second language to me. During this time I’ve tried almost every single part of the process of making and presenting the images. First I used small film compact cameras, then started to use SLR’s and learned the process of developing my own film as well as the printing process, tried medium format cameras and finally started to use D-SLR equipment. Early on I found out that the images seemed to present themselves very clear to my senses, it has been almost always very easy to find the composition I want right in the shooting process. For quite a long time I chose to maintain the result un-cropped and and directed all my energies to create something even more personal in the darkroom. During this period I have worked almost entirely in B&W. It was only recently that I started working with color, and even more recently that I started cropping the images. Other thing I’ve always found extremely important was the capability of controlling the camera in full, making a necessity that the settings are chosen in a conscious way. This has lead me to find comfort using the manual mode almost every time.
What I do shows as deeply personal representations or constructions , based on reality and carrying a heavy influence of my own feelings and experience. All the images I create are really wrapped in all that knowledge I’ve acquired seeing, hearing and reading pretty much everything contained in all other art forms, resulting in a sort of miscegenation looking in the images I create. Everything is a potential subject to me, as I do firmly believe that there is something unique waiting to come to the surface in everything that surrounds us. The way I approach photography has a mix awareness and impulsiveness at the same, granting a very direct connection with the subject and environment, quickly jumping from one subject to another hoping to find that moment of truth waiting there. It is true that I anticipate almost naturally the potential shots and the aesthetic choices available to address them, but I do so without make careful planing ahead. All the experience achieved during the years seems to come out to my help and become my guide. I have learned by myself how to create images. I have seen many photo exhibitions, read a lot and tried lots of different things. All this has given me immense pleasure, and it was because of the love I have with photography that I was able to made the choices that lead me to where I stand today, full of passion and immensely curious of what I’ll be doing tomorrow.
There is a joke in the Simpsons TV show where Homer says, “I could never think of something like soup or a pencil” while looking at art from Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol. While the concept isn’t quite the same, there is an element of finding the extraordinary in the everyday to your images. Please talk a little bit about that aspect of your photography. I think there are a lot of photographers who feel if they have nothing amazing to take photos of, they can never take amazing photos.
MARIO: I think it has to do with deconstructing myths. We are constantly being pushed to do things in a very constrained way. When we learn something it is necessary to learn the methods in a controlled environment, this helps us gain the aptitude to use the media and ability to interact with others using a standard language. But when one has the ability to do that, it should be the time to start creating something personal and at this point we have to chose between trying to achieve perfection on fields already studied or try something new. For me it was a natural choice, as I followed my instincts without a fight, and chose to do something mainly personal while exploring new grounds. That granted me the tranquility to make all the experiences I wanted, be able to stop making photography for periods of time and again resume this activity with a new will to try different things while having consolidated the knowledge obtained in the previous stages. There is a saying that says: ‘The beauty is on the eyes of the beholder’, this is also true for photography. I would add that regarding photography it is not only the eye that matter, it is of great importance the capability to feel the subjects and surroundings.
When you go out shooting for the day, what gear do you usually take along with you?
MARIO: I do not think that the equipment is of great importance by itself. It is what you need to have in order to attain some result that is important. However, one might find itself in a position where the lack of material does not permit to try to reach one intended goal, that is when one should be creative and try another approach or quickly try another subject. One never ceases to be amazed by the amount of subjects presented at the same time and place, it is for us to look carefully. Furthermore, I found out that the equipment could be somehow a constraint by it self. Recently I started using iphone to make photography, I discovered that the potential granted by such a camera that could be used in a manner that permits diferent POV’s and which is light enough to be held and operated with one hand in very dynamic environments would open the doors to new kinds of composition. Anyway, the most common set used consists in a LOWEPRO backpak, NIKON D300 body, NIKON 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR DX Zoom, SIGMA 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM, SIGMA 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Macro, NIKON SLB600 flash unit, HOYA polarizer filter and some batteries and memory cards. It is very rare to use a tripod.
When you make these images, are you heading out of your house with a plan? Do you say “Today I am going to look for …........ to take photos of.” or do you just record what shows up in front of you that day?
MARIO: Most times I start with some ideas of what I want to achieve and I head to the places I think are best suited to achieve that goal. But when I start photographing, and if I am in the mood, I soon forget everything and start working on a higher level of abstraction. I let my self be carried away and start do things driven by intuition. Only at the end of the day I recollect all the places I’ve been and situations I’ve lived during the session. Other times I stroll someplace with a camera and let the things happen in front of me and only then I chose what to shot and how I would like it to appear. It is a a more contemplative attitude, leaving the course of events happen before your eyes, acting only to freeze, with the camera, some of the details.
Your images are a mix of people, places, and objects. Do you find one subject more satisfying than others? Do you wish that you were better at any of the subjects than others?
MARIO: I don’t really have a favorite subject, I do have an idea of what I would like to make. Every subject bears an unique potential, and it is capable of certain things. It is the mood I’m in that dictates the kind of subject I am going to approach next. Of course that I’m more at ease in some areas than others, but this would not led me to be discouraged and try the other kind of subject instead.
If you were going to encourage others to work on these sorts of images, to teach them to find the interesting aspects of the world around them, how would you do it? Is there a way that other photographers can learn or practice to do this? What feedback do you find most useful for your images?
MARIO: This aptitude goes further then photography by itself, it has to be deep anchored in the way we feel things. It is a kind of resonance we have with all that surrounds us. I think that in order to obtain this kind of images one has to perceive by itself if he/she is able to do so. But it would help to get rid of many of the mainstream pre-conceptions about what great photography should be, to be very open minded and willing to be surprised. I don’t think it would be possible, that one person, by discipline or method, forces itself to this kind of photography as it requires a high degree of empathy with the environment.
I really like all feedback, when it is honest and well meaning. It gives me great pleasure when someone says to me that he/she found out something that was hidden to his/her eyes either it is what I was expecting to show or even some other thing. The one thing I don’t really like is when someone, even if with the best of intentions, tries to construct a completely different image using some other person photo.
And finally, the question we ask everyone: Your work primarily involves what I like to call “extraordinary in the ordinary” photography. Do you enjoy other types of photography as well? What would be your ‘dream project’ if you could work on anything in the world?
MARIO: Well, I do like most of the areas in photography and somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I wouldn’t try to touch them. If there’s one thing I would call a dream project it would consist of making something in the area of studio photography, trying to achieve a kind of vision very close to dreams or nightmares are like.
Mário Azevedo
|
f 2,8, exposure program: normal, metering mode: average At the Cartoon Exhibition – This is a perfectly normal situation you find yourself in, a walk in an exhibition on a Saturday afternoon. What is important here was that I had chosen to make some images using a very portable camera (iphone) that day, and the choice has allowed my to move myself very fast behind the subject, using a very high POV and still be capable of constantly re-evaluate the composition. When th moment arrive I was ready and shot. |
Mário Azevedo
|
1/8 sec at f 11, manual, pattern, Focal length 105mm dx,
ISO 400 Clear – This photo belongs to a series of portraits of my seven years old daughter made during a single afternoon while we where strolling and making photography in very nice park filled with fantastic vegetation and lakes. The objective was to capture some of her most distinctive characteristics and expressions. This was accomplished mainly because of the existing trust between us but also due to tough negotiations regarding who was going to shot who at that precise moment :) |
Mário Azevedo
|
NIKON F2AS, Ilford HP5 The Watchers – This is a straightforward image made during an exhibition of Joel Peer Witkin that tool place in Coimbra, back in 1989 This image is still very important or me as I think it achieves some equilibrium between the documentary and the representation of a highly inspiring environment while preserving an unique feel that was present. |
Mário Azevedo
|
1/80 sec at f 4,8, manual, pattern, Focal length 62mm dx,
ISO 2000 Human balance – The Human balance was one of the results achieved on the process of documenting a gymnastic exhibition. The goal was set to capture the dynamics and the performance aspects of the event. Though the conditions for doing so presented many restrains, it was possible to achieve some good results taking advantage of the great dynamics presented as well as the geometry of the equipments involved. |
Mário Azevedo
|
1/125 sec at f 16,manual, pattern, Focal length 29mm dx,
ISO 320 Working on the sidewalk – Working on the Sidewalk is part of a project aiming to represent the singular aspects existing in a small street market that happens periodically in old Coimbra’s uptown. To do so I opted to photograph the subjects, achieving their collaboration, on a proximity basis. That allowed to create an empathy wish granted a feeling of ease in the process and be able to present the subjects in the context of their surroundings even if reflected as is this case. |
Text ©2009 Mario Azevedo and Josh Root. Images ©2009 Mario Azevedo.
Article created December 2009
Pnina Evental 
, December 10, 2009; 03:56 P.M.
Phylo Dayrin , December 10, 2009; 10:58 P.M.
Landrum Kelly 
, December 13, 2009; 07:48 P.M.
Michaela M , December 14, 2009; 05:28 A.M.
Anuar Patjane 
, December 14, 2009; 03:01 P.M.
Fred G. 
, December 16, 2009; 01:32 A.M.
Carlos H. 
, December 16, 2009; 01:54 P.M.
j d.wood , January 06, 2010; 06:44 P.M.
