Photographer of the week – Jorge Machado

Our photographer spotlight this week is another photographer I just happened to stumble upon online. His work really caught my eye with the interesting digital compositions he puts together. Combining different shots and textures in photoshop he creates some very cool pieces of art. There is so much detail in his work that your eye really wants to examine every bit of the image and explore this other world he has created. Take a look at some of his shots and be inspired!

Who are you …

I am a photographer and translator living and working in the North of Portugal.

the reason I love what I do ….

Every morning I get out of bed and feel that I have to create something. Anything. It doesn’t always have to be an image. Self-expression is key, as is the act of sharing. Seth Godin refers to art as the gift that cannot be repaid, and I have to agree with him. I love to share ideas, especially powerful ideas that change the way you think and see the world. Art has the power to change perception and I consider myself an “artoholic.”

who do you get your inspiration from …

Ray Bradbury wrote a wonderful book, Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You
where he tells you to ‘let your head explode’ if you want to engage in creative work. He tells you to rifle through your childhood memories, to draw from that age of enchantment when the world was filled with mystery and novelty. That said, there are a number of things that inspire me. Film is a powerful source of visual stimuli. I find Terry Gilliam’s work extremely rich — his collaboration with Monty Python’s Flying Circus as well as the movies he directed later. One can’t deny the formative impact of surrealism. I was exposed to it at a very tender age. To this day, Magritte is one of my favorite painters. Ernst Fuchs and H.R. Giger, also. The list goes on and on.

your photography specialty …

Surrealist collage. I would call it a fixation more than a specialty.

who is your photo idol(s) …

To name but a few: Jan Saudek, Sebastiao Salgado, Mary Ellen Mark, Edward Weston and Joel-Peter Witkin. All of them geniuses. Saudek because, to my mind, he revolutionized the nude, and had the courage to work and think freely under a communist dictatorship. Salgado has taken the most startling, dramatic, haunting pictures of children ever: Exodus Children is a masterpiece. Mary Ellen Mark had a unique eye for portraits. Weston on account of that pepper he shot in 1930. Witkin because he’s Witkin. There will never be another master of the surreal macabre quite like him.

favorite photography product …

Product, let’s see. Do lenses count? Then it would be my Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5. I’ve taken tons of pictures with that lens. It’s more than enough reason to stick with Nikon cameras. My 35mm f/1.8 comes a close second, though.

favorite movie …

Definitely “The Seventh Seal” by Ingmar Bergman.

last rental you watched …

“The Corporation,” written by Joel Bakan, directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott.

where can you be found on days off …

Who knows. When I do take time off, I like to travel. I have a mind to hit Stockholm and Copenhagen this summer. I flew over Denmark last year. Gorgeous country. I must go see it. You know what would make a fabulous day off? Seeing planet Earth from space.

what superhero would you be …

Powdered Toast Man, from the Ren & Stimpy cartoon. He can get away with anything and still be called a hero. Why, he blew up the Earth so little Joey could watch TV. And he is made of toast. What’s not to like?

if I am typically craving something it is ….

Old Gouda. A magnificent cheese. Worth the trip to Holland, I promise you.

what is your most fav photo you have recently taken …

I entered an abandoned house a few weeks ago and took a number of pictures. Somebody had broken in and they’d had a party in the living room. There were all these bottles of cheap brandy and second-rate vodka on a table. The kitchen was completely wrecked, the bedrooms were turned upside-down, a true picture of desolation. You know how some places feel haunted? That was one of them. You felt that you were walking into shadows cast across time rather than space. Taking pictures there was a sobering experience. It made me consider how transient life is, and how important it is to be remembered fondly.

When I came out into daylight I had 90 pictures to work with. I pared down the lot until I was left with four strong ones that, when arranged together, seem to form a call-and-response pattern in terms of light and geometry. I call that series of four, “It’s after the end of the world and they forgot to tell you.”

Here are some more of his artwork, you can also view his website at http://www.m-evolve.com or his Flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-evolve/