Joao Ponces de Carvalho

I was born in Lisbon in 17th March 1957.
My Great-grandfather was the very popular Poet João de Deus. This might have caused a strong influence in me, in diverging me towards the Arts.
Therefore, I went to Lisbon Classic University, for a Masters in History, specialty, Arts History.
As I’ve always been a regular writer, I had to look to other forms of expressing myself, other than Poetry. Photography and later Cinema was the means I found.
I started taking still pictures when I was 10, and managed to be a publicity photographer by 17. My first documentary fi...

I was born in Lisbon in 17th March 1957.
My Great-grandfather was the very popular Poet João de Deus. This might have caused a strong influence in me, in diverging me towards the Arts.
Therefore, I went to Lisbon Classic University, for a Masters in History, specialty, Arts History.
As I’ve always been a regular writer, I had to look to other forms of expressing myself, other than Poetry. Photography and later Cinema was the means I found.
I started taking still pictures when I was 10, and managed to be a publicity photographer by 17. My first documentary film was made at 21, it was the first TV program to represent Portugal in MIPCOM, Cannes, 1980.
After, a long career of more than 40 films succeeded, mostly for Portuguese television. By chance, I specialized in underwater filming and photography. The Sea, with its many secrets has always fascinated me, and it proved to be a way of transmitting my message.
My films and photographs are not mere means of communication, but I intend to transmit feelings and sensations with them, through the use of shapes, movements, colours and sounds.
This seems almost to be a lost cause: people care less and less for the environment or for any artistic causes: the consumption society rules, and only shocking or distasteful pictures seem to attract viewers…
The new age of Aquarius we are entering, should perhaps be called the age of egoism, as Man convinced himself he can rule the world and Mother Nature.