FEATURED ARTIST: ANDRÉ GONÇALVES

André Gonçalves, born in 1987, lives and works on the island of Madeira. A lover of art in its many forms, he describes himself as a photo lunatic; eccentric and bizarre. He soon applied his knowledge and love for obscure use of imagery to define his own style of dark photography. As a lover of dark atmosphere and melancholy, he portrays the inside of a twisted chaotic mind generating emotions.  He has found his own way of playing with sad expressions, like some of his portraits show, as if he were silently screaming.

Gonçalves has always been fascinated by the power that a single image can have; he likes to generate positive or negative emotions, pushing the viewer to pause his life for seconds, minutes, and travel through his mind.

Music also has a very important role in his life and consequently also affects his photographs. Many of his pictures have a title that pays homage to a song. In this way the music is actively involved in creating the final image, and very often a song can determinate the atmosphere portrayed. Andre doesn’t consider himself has a photographer – he makes art, and he makes it to please himself first. He says inspiration comes from everyday life; just walking down a street or watching the word inspires him.

He says his photographs are a sort of an autobiography; he puts himself in his imagery, his contrasts, his passions and his obsessions . When he looks at an old portrait photo, he travels with his mind – he tries to imagine that person in her life, in her era. That is what he wants for his images.

His work is mainly concerned with facial expressions; he says the eyes are the shell of the soul. He is not interested in showing beauty as an outward phenomenon, he prefers to present the facial expression as a whole, expression and soul united.

His work has been showcased in several international and national magazines. He has joined a few international exhibitions in Paris and Italy. On the island of Madeira the viewer can see his work exhibited very often.