When Xavier Portela left a comfortable job as a developer for Bose Europe to become a full-time photographer, he had concerns that he might not be able to make a regular income while working as a freelancer. “‘That’s when I spoke to my mother for advice,” said Portela while speaking at the XPOSURE Intentional Photography Festival 2019 on Saturday, at the ‘The Importance of Personal Projects’ session.

He added, “My mother assured if I didn’t have any money, I could always sit on her table for food and sleep on her cot. That felt better”. Portela has come a long way since, evident in his photography series ‘Glow’ currently on exhibition at the Sharjah festival,

The Belgo-Portuguese photographer revealed his best-kept photography secrets to a packed audience at the Expo Centre Sharjah. He persevered for months on his ”beloved project”, Glow, without any returns, before turning it into a profitable venture. The creative process for Glow involving several challenges and the big risk to work on a personal photography project, which eventually became his livelihood, were life lessons Portela continues to apply even after attaining global acclaim, asserted the photographer.

Stressing on the importance of practising on projects before actually being commissioned for them by a client, Portela explained: “You have to do it until you ‘actually’ do it. That’s the only way to build a portfolio”.

He recommended attending photographers to post their jobs on stock photography websites. “I once made US$ 6,420 from a picture that I had taken while holidaying in New York in 2015. That got me thinking, I needed to travel more, take pictures and sell”, said Portela.

Portela went on to list the several personal projects he had undertaken, which eventually gained him traction and led him to being commissioned for projects. He’s most fond of a gym friend he helped
out – Eyesmin from Bangladesh. “She had big dreams; wanted to become a sports model. I shot her first portfolio, which got her a modelling contract with Nike”, he said, stressing on the importance of collaborations for personal projects.

Portela’s top personal project remains Glow. Inspired by the iconic night-time streets of Japan packed with electric hues of colourised anime signboards, the pictures blew up on social media, receiving attention from almost every major mainstream publication.

He went on to exhibit these works in Belgium and was later commissioned by a Japanese Real Estate developer for a similar project. “ My images went up on billboards across Japan”, he said. Portela has done similar projects in Osaka, Nagasaki, Busan, Taipei, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York.

He advised photographers: “Do not underestimate your luck; take the time to invest in yourself. Also, don’t wait ten years to do your projects, do it now.”

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), the festival runs until Sunday, September 22. From climate change to fashion, politics to nature, wildlife and human disasters, as well as natural calamities, the festival covers the entire range of life on this planet through pictures.