Rui palha

Rui palha was born in April 1953, Portugal. He began to photograph as a kid at the age of 14 and fall in love with it ever since then. Rui palha feels that,“Photography is a very important part of my space… it is to discover, it is to capture giving flow to what the heart feels and sees in a certain moment, it is being in the street, trying, knowing, learning and, essentially, practicing the freedom of being, of living, of thinking.” Here he tells about why he does what he does, he wants to show and tell a story that most people would have never seen. Ever since 2001 Rui palha has been dedicated to tell others stories in his street photography. He loves telling the stories of people in Portugal Lisbon because this is where he grew up and he loves to show the emotions that are going on in the projects of Lisbon.

There are many dangerous areas he likes to go which he calls forbidden places. Places underground, shopping centers, problematic neighborhoods, and other places a camera is not welcomed. He makes his work unique by getting pictures that describe the feeling or emotion of his models. Rui palha feels that he, “wants to gain an insight into their feelings, thoughts with the help of their gestures, motions… I always try to show, among the real life scenes of the everyday life, the beauty that always exists inside the unknown People, my “street models.”Rui palha refers to himself as a ammetuer because he likes to take pictures the way he wants to take them and does not no one else. Rui palha likes to take his time waiting on the streets waiting for that perfect moment he sees in his head. We have to be able to anticipate, to understand, to “see”, to “feel” a street scene in a fraction of time and we must capture that moment in a meaningful framing. He wants his photos to be telling the story of the grand moment the way he sees it.

Rui palha has had many different awards, accomplishments, and publications. One of his biggest award was his,“Gold medal in slide category - Concurso Nacional de Fotografia Município da Moita, 1987.” Another one of his awards was his, “Gold medal, 4º Salão Internacional CAF Internet SICAFI 2003, b&w category.” Rui palha has many publications like, "Fotografia” (issue 1), Portugal, “Fotografia em português” book, Portugal, 2001, "DigiFotomagazine”, Holland , 2007, "Street Photography ", 2010, and much more. Rui palha is an interesting man who has dedicated himself to street photography, and who will probably do street photography for the rest of his life.