Interview with Carlos Teixeira | SHOT Magazine Issue 17

In Carlos Teixeira’s images, nothing seems left to chance. Before the shot, there is already a clear direction: a concept, a palette, a visual structure, an idea waiting to be made tangible. His editorials emerge from a process shaped by preparation, vision, and collaboration, where bodies, faces, and light are arranged within an image conceived with precision. His work speaks to the power of intention: imagining a photograph before it exists, then physically building it on set. Teixeira’s photography brings the value of human choice back to the centre: seeing, deciding, composing, giving form to a vision.

Photographer Carlos Teixeira interview by Creative Director Francesca Melchior for SHOT Magazine Issue 17

Your images often feel carefully constructed, almost like cinematic scenes. When you begin a new project, do you start with a visual structure, an emotion, or a story?

When I start a new project, I draw on all three of those elements, along with a few others. Each project is built on a foundation that is either provided to us or created by me. Then, it is simply a matter of going with the flow and bringing all the elements together to create the best story possible.

In fashion, you often work on commission, within very precise boundaries. How do you find your own space for freedom within those limits?

In fashion, there is a bit of everything. We have clients who allow us to be creative and others who are more restrictive, but most of them usually give us a certain degree of creative freedom. As creatives, we need that space; it is what defines us as artists and photographers.

Could you take us inside the creative process of one of your shoots, step by step?

As I mentioned earlier, I believe the creative process begins with a foundation: a concept that is either given to us or developed by us. We then create a mood board to organize all our ideas, which serves as a guide on the day of the shoot. This entire process is crucial to ensuring that everything comes together cohesively. It typically involves all the members of the team sharing ideas with one another.

Do you feel closer to the idea of capturing reality or transforming it?

I believe it is about capturing reality through my own eyes, which can ultimately lead to its transformation.

In your editorial “Fazer a Corte” for Vogue Portugal, blue has a very strong presence and seems to define the story’s entire visual world. How did this colour choice come about?

In this editorial, I chose to use a palette of cool tones, predominantly blue, to convey an atmosphere of mystery, elegance, and sophistication. The blue reinforces a sense of serenity and emotional distance, creating an ethereal atmosphere that highlights both the figure and the clothing.

In your opinion, what is the real challenge behind every shot?

I believe the challenge will always be to capture the moment exactly as we envision it. There are many factors that can make this difficult.

In the editorial “Poetic Escape”, the images seem suspended between reality and imagination, almost within an undefined space. How did you build this atmosphere? Was it part of the initial vision, or did it develop during the shoot?

Yes, all the images were prepared in advance; we knew exactly what we were going to do. I love this editorial; I think everything came together perfectly.

Have you ever gone through a creative block? In those moments, how do you find your direction again and return to looking at things with clarity?

Yes, I have definitely experienced creative blocks before, but that is completely normal. I usually take a five-minute break to catch my breath, and then I come back with fresh ideas.

Photography today is shaped by speed, the endless image production, and artificial intelligence. How do you see the future of photography? Do you think something is being lost in the way we look at and create images, and do you see AI as a threat to photography ?

My opinion on AI is that, in a few years, we photographers will be very well paid and our photographs will become a luxury, because they will be something rare, something not everyone will be able to create. I see AI as a tool that can improve our work, but never replace us. I have worked on projects in which certain elements were later enhanced with AI, always as a complementary tool. I try not to think about it too much, so that it does not interfere with my current work.

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SHOT | Article Carlos Teixeira

Carlos Teixeira

The Imagined Real