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COMISSIONED PORTRAITS

HIDDEN UNIVERSES

All these photos were made with a specific purpose in mind. They were Commissioned Portraits. For me, it is a challenge and a creative opportunity to accept such a personal invitation.

Our image is one of our most cherished assets. And to let ourselves to be "Looked At" by a stranger, even if some times also a friend, is an act that no one takes lightly. And expectations are high!

I did some of these portraits for the photographed ones personal joy, others for their professional motives, and a few hybrids of this classification. In all of them there was a strong personal motivation for their wish.

Since my teens I do portraits. Portraits in the sense of a Portrait. Not a casual portrait, but assumed Portraits. Some I did because it would give me pleasure, and others because I was asked for. But the distinction between the two categories is not sharp. If I am lucky enough to located a few of them, I will put these portraits on the Early Work Gallery.

I love the very special relationship that can develop on a portrait photo shooting. It´s a complicity atmosphere that happens, and then… fades, but never completly goes away! It does not matter if the portrait is just for professional use.

Every Portrait contains an hidden personal universe.

Júlio de Matos
April, 28th 2009