Interview with Bruno Sousa

The Magazine For Photographers
Feb 12
4 min read

Can you tell us a bit about yourself ?

I'm Bruno, I'm 42 years old and I was born in the city of Porto, I love taking photos and walking, which is perfect because I can combine two things I like and take photos around the city

How did you get into photography?

I gained a taste for photography a little late, only at the age of 35 or 36 with the purchase of a Huawei p9 lite, as is well known, Huawei has always been focused on photography, without really knowing how I found myself in a photography group from Huawei, it was here that my love for photography began to be born, I saw what they posted and thought about it for myself, I would like to take some photos like that, from then on I started taking photos and I never stopped until now.

How do you approach storytelling through your photos?

Apart from a specific case, I don't usually have the typical approach that every photo has to have a story to tell, I like to photograph freely, I go for a walk around the city and just photograph what I like, be it people, monuments, landscape, the only thing I really like is fog, so I like the photos to always have that mysterious atmosphere.

How do you define street photography in your own terms?

I think that Street photography is a photographic genre that captures scenes of everyday life in public spaces, such as streets, squares, markets or public transport. It seeks to record authentic moments in the community or urban environment.

I usually say that street photography is the moment, you take the photo at that moment and it is unique, you can try to recreate it but it will never be exactly the same, we are left with moments that are ours forever.

What attracts you to street photography compared to other types of photography?

What attracts me is that sometimes in street photography it's all a matter of seconds, if you miss that window of time you won't get it back, but when you get the click in the perfect timing and see that it turned out the way you wanted it gives a great feeling of accomplishment.

How do you capture emotion in your photos

Capturing emotions in a photo has a lot to do with what you can photograph, for example, people's expressions whether happy or sad or displays of affection like kisses or hugs, I think it's the best way to convey emotions in photography

What gear do you use?

As you can see, 90% of my photos on Instagram are from smartphones, only about 6 months ago I purchased a Sony A6400 with the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 lens, I already have several photos on the page with the camera but I still consider myself more a mobile photographer and for that I have a Google pixel 7 pro a Huawei p60 pro and an Honor Magic 6 pro.

What are your favourite shooting conditions?

My favorite conditions for shooting are with fog, rainy days so I can make my reflections, a type of photos I really like to take, cloudy days, and at sunset and sunrise.

How do you approach photographing strangers in public spaces—do you ask permission or shoot discreetly?

I prefer discreetly because I like to catch people acting naturally, when we ask to take photos, the person themselves will no longer look natural because they know they are being photographed, that's one of the things I like about taking photos with a cell phone, we can be very more discreet

Is there a type of photography or genre you haven’t explored yet but would like to?

Yes, I would like to explore more photographing people, portraits and starting to do photo sessions, I recently did my first photo session and I liked it but it is definitely the type of photography that I am least comfortable doing and that I need to explore more

What does photography mean to you?

Photography is very important for me, it is my escape from the daily routine, it is my natural therapy so to speak and in addition it has allowed me to meet a lot of people, some of whom I can call friends.

How did you find your photography style?

Simply by photographing, this is the only way we can discover our photographic style by experimenting, I give the example of black and white photography, when I joined the Huawei photography group most of the photographs were in black and white and I started like that too, but I soon realized that it wasn't my style of photography, I like color in photos, although I don't think I have a photographic style because I like street photography as well as landscapes or monuments, I like a little bit of everything and I don't let myself just stick to it. a style of photography, but I can say that I am already well known for my photos of reflections in the city of Porto.