Vitor Duarte

I picked up a camera because of music. At eighteen I was in a band back home in Brazil, playing shows through 2009 and 2010. When I got into photography, going back into that world wasn’t really a decision. It just made sense. Concerts are still where I feel most at home behind the camera.

Corporate work happened a different way. I turned out to be good at reading a room and adapting to whatever environment I’m dropped into, and people tend to feel comfortable having me around. That matters more than you’d think when you’re shooting a gala dinner or a product launch. I keep a low profile, come prepared, and galleries are back with the client inside 48 hours.

Some moments still catch me off guard. Getting the call to shoot Snoop Dogg was one of them. A kid from the countryside in Brazil, photographing one of the most influential artists in the world. Seeing one of my shots used as advertising outside City Recital Hall in the Sydney CBD, for an event called Sound Escape, was another. Shooting inside Ocyá, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, was a different kind of pride, closer to home. I still think about all three.

I also run Seventh Vow, a separate studio for premium wedding photography. vitordmp.com is where the corporate and concert work lives.