© nelson vilar 2000-2012
PT/EN
About me
I was 18 years old when I began to photograph. My camera’s capabilities were quite limited so it was quickly replaced by a Yashica FX-3 Super 2000 with a great f: 1.9 50mm lens.
It was this camera that made me realize I was fond of photography. No matter where I went, I took it with me. I explored most of Lisbon on foot, just to shoot.
I grew up in Sintra, but was born in Mozambique in 1969.
It was as technical assistant in a engineering consultancy - where I worked for about nine years - that I started to shoot in a more professional way, with clearly defined objectives. It was by then that I first saw my photos published in a magazine - "Lisbon in the 90s".
At that time I felt also the need to deepen my photography knowledge and technique. So I enrolled in Ar.Co - Centre for Art and Visual Communication. After the introductory course in photography it became clear to me that I would like to spend my days photographing.
So in late 1998 I resigned from the company I was working for and I started my adventure in the world of photography - mainly press photography.
In January 1999 I did a three-month internship at the daily newspaper “Diário de Notícias’” photo department.
After the internship, I began working as a freelance, and during the summer of the same year, I collaborated with that newspaper.
In October 1999 I started doing photography work for the Portuguese magazine "Focus" of whose staff I became a permanent member in April 2000. I was photography coordinator of the same magazine between July 2004 and January 2012.
Since then I have been trying to keep up the pleasure of photography and take the result of that passion to those who are kind and interested enough to appreciate my work.