Três grandes amigos

Eu amo fotografia e especialmente o fotojornalismo. Esta foto é prova do poder da fotografia e da espontaneadade do fotojornalismo. Poderia ter sido marcado um encontro com o Ruy, a Simone e o Artur com o intuito de os fotografar, ou de os entrevistar, mas não, não foi o caso. Fiz esta foto no dia das eleições para a Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, num hotel na expo onde o candidato Carmona Rodrigues e os seus apoiantes aguardavam os resultados. Entre os apoiantes de Carmona estavam Ruy de Carvalho, Simone de Oliveira e Artur Agostinho, numa animadissima conversa em que segundo me lembro Ruy de Carvalho contava uma história sobre um macaco em africa, história essa que estava a deliciar Simone e Artur.
Na altura a noticia foi o segundo lugar ganho pelo Carmona para a camara de Lisboa e esta foto estáva arrumada no "bau", dei com ela quando preparava um conjunto de fotos para um concurso e decidi publica-la pois acho que é uma imagem muito engraçada e cheia de história pelos intervenientes.

© Miguel A. Lopes

Korn

Este é o meu primeiro post em Português.
Esta quarta feira fui fotografar a banda Californiana Korn ao Pavilhão Atlântico. Não custumo fazer concertos, aliás este foi o meu primeiro trabalho em concerto para a Lusa, recordo que o ano passado era para fazer os Metallica no Super Bock Super Rock, mas como era obrigado a deixar as minhas máquinas num baú, onde estavam máquinas e sacos tudo a "granel" e sem qualquer segurança, ou tinha de me retirar do Festival, decidi sair pois não me ofereciam condições de segurança para deixar as minhas máquinas e não fotografei esse concerto.
Neste concerto dos Korn não ouve qualquer problema, alias a organização portou-se lindamente.´
Em concertos normalmente só se fotográfa as três primeiras musicas e este não foi excepção. Fiz quase todas as fotos com a 70-200, mas deveria ter usado a 50mm 1.4 pois estava muito perto do palco e foi dificil fazer fotos decentes.
Ficam aqui algumas, as que se aproveitam, preciso fotografár mais concertos para ficar "afinado" e mais á vontade.

©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes

Last post in english

This is my last post in English in this blog for now. When I started this blog I was living in Copenhagen, Denmark, and because I have a lot of foreign friends form other countries I lived, I decided to write in English so they could follow my path in photojournalism. I'm now living in Portugal and working here as photojournalist and most of the assignments and news are from Portugal, so I decided to turn into my own country and people and publish in Portuguese. It doesn't mean I will just publish in Portuguese but most of the things I will. I normally don't write too much because I want my photographs to transmit the messages and news, but I feel the need to write and develop my written skills so for now this is what I will do. Forgive me my foreign friends, but don't be mad, if you want any of my posts in Portuguese translated just drop me an Email and I will be glad to write you back in English.
This is my life road....

©Miguel A. Lopes

Front Pages

Last week I had a Front Page in a Swiss newspaper with a photo of the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Socrates with the East-Timor Parliament President, Fernando La Sama, and today I have two Front Pages in Two Portuguese newspapers with the photo of floods in the area of Lisbon.
More photos of the floods can be seen HERE



©Miguel A. Lopes

©Miguel A. Lopes

Portuguese Parliament

Today I cover the debate in the Portuguese Parliament. It was the second time I went on assignment there, and I really like to go cover these debates.
There are four places in the galleries of the parliament where we can take photos of the politicians so we can get all of them.
I took a Canon EOS 1D Mark II N and work most of the time with the amazing Canon lens 300mm 2.8L. With this lens I can get close to the politicians then is just wait for the perfect expression and be ready to press the shutter button to capture it. Of course the camera 8 frames per sec help but all the attention is needed because they are always moving.
Here is a photo of the building of the Portuguese Parliament and some of the politicians and they’re expressions.

©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes

Street Photography

Street Photography is definitively one of my passions of photography. here some of it.


©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes

Murders

Photographs of the two funerals of young boys killed in sequence of a fight between rival gangs in the suburbs of Lisbon.
It's not something I like to photograph...

©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes
©Miguel A.Lopes

"Quinta do Cabrinha" neighborhood in Lisbon

Some photographs from "Quinta do Cabrinha" neighborhood in Lisbon, the photos were taken in July last year but I had them waiting in my archive to be revised and published. I often want to take off to another country in the search of stories in neighborhoods and going today trough my archive I realize that Portugal also have this places to go and search for stories. This particular one is not one of the most problematic and it is very colorful.
I will for sure during this year visit some of the problematic neighborhoods and search for photojournalism stories.

©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes

Archive

During these days I have been going through all my archive of 2007, organizing, cleaning and recovering some photographs and in July last year during a meeting of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union in Guimaraes, there was a major protest, that gather more than ten thousand protesters from all over the country, against the politic decisions on implementing the Flexi-Security working system in Portugal.
I was shooting the meeting and I was not schedule to shoot this event but because I didn’t have anything to shoot until late, I went outside of the facilities and took my camera and voice recorder.
I remember that it was one of the hottest days of this summer, people were making a lot of noise but with order, the police mount a security perimeter around the facilities and no disorders were register. I melt in to the crowd and start shooting and at the same time recording the sounds with my voice recorder hanged on my neck.
I mount this sound slides at that time but I didn’t know how to put it online, so it was waiting in my archive “collecting some dust”. I just learn it last week!!!
I know it is not an hot or fresh news but I want to show it. Enjoy it HERE

©Miguel A.Lopes

Gypsy Kids

Last week I went through my archive and recover this photographs from Gypsy Kids. I made this portraits during a reportage about the Nomadic gypsies living in Portugal. These kids live in very poor conditions, they live in tents made with just some wood sticks and some plastic covers and with no floor, no water, or electricity. They also didn't have any conditions in terms of hygienic. They don't go to school due to their constant mobility. Usually these kids and the families don't stay in the same place for more than 3 days because of national laws and to local people that normally don't like to have them as neighbors.
They stay all day playing around the camping, helping the family with all kind of duties and playing with the horses that apparently are the only source of money of these family.
They stayed all day, making lots of noise and wanting me to photograph them but soon as I point the camera to them something strange happen, they become silent, something deep come from inside of these kids. It was the first time I felt I was steeling a soul, maybe the soul of these kids....

©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes
©Miguel A. Lopes