Progressive Street

I avoid photographing people or scenes that, due to their violence, obscenity, racism or religious beliefs, go beyond what is acceptable, even from a documentary or journalistic photo point of view.

I have always felt a strong attraction for art in all its dimensions, photography came naturally along with this passion. I remember devouring everything I could get from books, magazines or exhibitions before the advent of the internet. I have always been a self-taught photographer since the dream began to materialize at 18 with the purchase of my first camera. Everything I know and do today has been the fruit of countless attempts and mistakes, of a spirit of self-criticism that has become more and more demanding and of an enormous will to do better.

For several reasons, photography has been dormant in my life for almost 10 years, when I return to Angola, the country where I was born and lived a childhood that I still keep the best moments of today. A return to my origins to work in public projects in the social area, but mainly with another motivation: to respond to the emotional and sentimental appeal of the land that I left abruptly in early adolescence and that stubbornly never abandoned me.

The most direct and profound contact with Africa, with its impressive palette of colours, sounds, smells and truly unique moments, quickly awakened in me a special sensitivity to the human aspects that surround me and led me to look more closely at people and the way they live and work. This is how an enormous will to capture emotions, feelings or states of mind and tell stories through photographs that document the human condition is born. These are stories of survival and hard lives of very simple people, but where there are also wonderful moments of dignity, pride, mutual help, joy and innocence.

The great proximity that characterizes the vast majority of my work obliges me to approach my subjects that often go beyond the context of photography alone. It’s absolutely essential to creating some empathy with the people I photograph. It’s often confidence that is acquired over time to be accepted in their environment and they act naturally in my presence. For this, it’s necessary to be humble and simple like them and to be able to communicate, speak their language or even their slang. Or simply respect their silence or their privacy. I know their names, their lives, their stories, this is as important to me as the photography itself.

The photography work I have done in Angola has led me to rethink the world and the way I’m in it, to look at people and how they live differently, and to relativize my wishes, my desires and my expectations. Today I’m a simpler and more human person.

2023 has been an exciting and enriching year for João!

Photography can change the world!

About a year ago, Stefan Kreienbrock contacted me to share one of my most gratifying news for me: he wanted to use the revenue from sales of Le Magazine published by the Fotografie in schwarz weiß group to make a donation to the families who live at the dump where I am doing a project that is very dear to me: "The Forgotten". After overcoming some setbacks, the donation was finally made. Around 300 clothes, 50 pairs of shoes and non-perishable foods were delivered directly to these families, especially to their children. This is undoubtedly a very hopeful example of how the world can be changed for the better with the aid of photography and and people's will and humaneness. On behalf of all these families, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Stefan.

The prestigious reFocus Awards have chosen João Coelho as International Discovery of the Year at the World Photo Annual. His photo "The Kingdom of Flies" was awarded Discovery of the Year in Photojournalism, along with a Silver Award and two Bronze Awards in the same category.

Click on the image to read the interview:

Two Honorable Mentions in the categories of photojournalism series and single at the prestigious Monovisions Awards 2023.

Group Exhibitions