Soliton wave

She doesn’t just see people, she sees through people. Cristiana Morais is photographing the energy of the soul of the people she meets. Her photos give voice to the marginalised and to humble beauty. Her lens captures the power of the authentic and she shows what’s really worth showing.
A fashion photographer who enjoys to photograph in analogue more than digital. Her photos are a mix of urban cool, black and white, and vivid colours. Her images consist of rap or hip hop music as the soundtrack to a film in which her life is intertwined with the lives of others. They could easily star in a video clip for a song like Tempo Antigo, by Apollo G ft. Garry, written in the neighbourhood of Cova da Moura (aka Kova M).

Born in 1987 in Portimão, her enthusiasm for photography started at the age of 11 when she bought her first analogue camera. Took a Photography course at IPF in Lisbon and after finishing in 2008, went through a Painting Restoration and Decorative Painting course. However, photography was her deepest love. Currently, she works as a freelance photographer and is exploring self-portraits as a statement for the lack of body representation in society, and as a vehicle of her vision of beauty.
And as she said in an interview to Young European Photographers: “I try to work with models that society doesn’t consider beautiful, or who diverge from beauty norms”. As she admitted in another interview, “breaking stigmas is my motto”. And her photos support this in the best possible way.

Her influence goes beyond printed pages, with group exhibitions at Anjos 70 in 2021 and Rove in 2022.
Also, on the walls of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in 2022, where her photographs were responsible for communicating Pedro Penim’s play Casa Portuguesa.

In 2023, she was recognised by the national and international creative community, receiving the Silver Award at Clube Criativos de Portugal and the Bronze Award at the Art Directors Club of Europe, both
in the Photography category.

A.R.