Making Magic With Muses: How João de Castro Wants Women To Feel Powerful
Maybe you need to be an outsider to get inside people. By his admission, renowned Portuguese photographer João de Castro doesn’t conform. He says what he thinks and that can get people offside, particularly men. But what his forthright attitude provides is a haven for truth and vulnerability. And that just happens to be the perfect environment in which women can feel free. The scenes and poses captured in João’s fine art photography are more than just sexual, they’re the result of moments where power is passing from photographer to subject. João’s art is the epitome of liberation.
Monochrome Photography Awards — Honourable Mention 2023
When you think of all the possible reasons why a person might have an affair, perhaps one of the most seductive is the possibility of inhabiting your mind and body in ways that seem impossible with people who know you. In João’s images, we see women in highly intimate moments, naked and alone but seemingly oblivious to anyone’s gaze. They are stark not only for their high contrast black and white and dramatic lighting but for the obvious free abandon they depict. “I want to say ‘You are beautiful in this situation, you are not ridiculous’. That’s a function of my work, I think…
