Interview: Photographer Helder Silva

Helder Silva is a master of photo manipulation. His original photographs have made the rounds of blogs everywhere because of their originality and so I was really happy when he agreed to talk about some of his work. His flickr gallery is somewhere I stop off regularly, not least because his amazing photos have suggested viewing music (much like a serving suggestion on food) and we have the same taste in music! Over to Portuguese photographer Helder:
"I became interested in photography early on by magazines like national geographic, photo and those big Sunday magazines that newspapers have. Then I got a very basic film camera when i was about 12 and have been shooting ever since. The big boom came when i first got my digital camera: I started shooting more and it was easier to put my work online. And that's when I started connecting with other like-minded people and getting feedback. Although I always loved photography I never pursued any formal training, all I do is self taught either through books, specialty magazines and tips from people on the internet.
I like to say that my style is having no style at all. When I was younger I did a lot of landscape and nature shots. Then I started doing lots of architectural and portrait shots. After i joined flickr and discovered photomanipulation that's the kind of shots I've been most known for, although last year I did a more conceptual series where I shot something everyday with my cellphone camera. But landscapes is still something I always love, I've had the pleasure of some people who follow my work saying that because of my landscapes they've added Portugal to their list of countries to visit next.

I follow the work of many people (Rankin, Lachapelle, Demarchieu, etc, etc), but if I have to pick one that I believe has been most influential for me, it'd be Annie Liebovitz, I guess she started a trend with her portraits and her Soprano posters. I have to admit that I don't follow that many Portuguese photographers but only because it's harder to have access to their work, one I love is João Martins - excellent photomanipulator.

Five years from now I expect to be making more photomanipulations and have my work in some exhibitions. I'm not looking to make a job out of it, it's something I do as a creative outlet, so I'll probably be better at it, get some gear and maybe publish a book of some surreal landscapes I have planned. However, people can buy my work at my online

shop."