My Personal Diary Written In The Language Of Light

I use photography as my diary, in which I write my personal emotions through the language of light and metaphors strongly inspired by fairy tales and Norse mythology. Human expression plays an important role in my images, either on my self-portraits or portraits I shoot of other people. It works as portals through time, as words I’ve written in the past that allow me to revive very deeply the emotions from the time I was shooting the picture.

The project “Bless” is a new project I’m starting now. It means “goodbye” in icelandic, but at the same time the english meaning of the word “Bless” plays a role on the project’s meaning. It marks an end to a sad chapter in my life and a new beginning, in which I hope to meet new people to work with me and try to reach to more people with my images.

I started photographing after having a stroke at the age of 16. I was never able to remember the time of the incident and the time I spent in the hospital recovering, and although it wasn’t that much that I couldn’t bring back to my memory. It really bothered me that I would never be able to remember the people who took care of me, and never be able to remember how my family supported me, specially my mother who stood all the time at my side during the time I was interned in the hospital. Although my photography came more as a hobby than a way to preserve my emotions, later I started to use it as a tool to preserve my memories and feelings, as I was never very good to express myself with words, so now I try to do it with photography.

More info: joaoleitephotography.com