Ana Luísa Pinto, alias Luminous Lu, is 24 years old. She was born and still live in Porto, Portugal. After having studied Conservation and Restoration of Art as a major in college, she realized soon she didn’t want to work on that field and ended up getting two post-graduate degrees, in Portuguese Art History and Art Management.
It was only after those two that she decided to pursue photography as a career. “It was the best decision I could have made!”
What is photography for you?
Photography is my main form of artistic expression. I also write and paint occasionally, but photography is “my everything”. It’s the best possible way for me to express how I feel, to document my days and everything that happens around me. I don’t think it’s something I can really define, because it takes up such a great part of my life; it became my lifeline, the way people see how I am and how I feel and, most of the time, the way I communicate. I guess that’s the best way to describe it: it’s how I communicate with the world and the people around me.
Which aspects of your pictures make them stand out as yours, what is your signature?
I don’t think I have a signature yet and it’s actually something I try to avoid for now. I’m twenty-four years old, which is relatively young, so I don’t feel like I should commit to a style or a signature just yet. There is so much to explore in photography, so many styles and elements and props! I think that my signature will emerge as I grow as an artist.
That said, I have been told by people that I tend to photograph ‘the little portraits of femininity’. This comes from a review I found incredibly flattering, so I kept it close to my heart. But yes, people tell me I photograph the details of being a girl, and I love it!
How do you approach someone for a photograph? How do you set up your work? Do you always ask?
I still haven’t taken much time to do street photography or travel photography in a way that would make me have to ask a lot of people for permission. When I’ve photographed other people, it has usually been at their request, so I never really have to ask. I do prefer, however, to photograph people when they’re not paying attention to me — I think the result is so much better with candid shots than when they’re posing for the camera.
Tell us a story about one of the people you have photographed that made you want to take their picture.
I photographed a wedding last year in which the bride was wearing a hot pink gown instead of the traditional white. That alone would be enough for me to be around her for most of the day — I am, after all, unbearably girly — but she and the groom were also so happy and so comfortable that they were a delight to shoot. Weddings can often be nerve wracking for the couple, but the two of them were just so happy to be there that the photos came out glorious and I ended up very satisfied with the result.
Why did you choose to shoot self-portraits? When did you start?
I started to take self-portraits in early 2009 when I was going through a very confusing time of my life. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, or what I wanted to be, but I seemed to find solace in photography and especially in self-portraiture. It helped me find my way and to really explore who I am and what I can do. When I started my 365 Days project — an annual project in which you take a self-portrait every day — I had no idea of how I would do it, or if I’d even be able to finish. I ended up surprising myself. I kept pushing myself to be better, to do something more than I’d done, and the results were very satisfying.
The other part of my decision to do self-portraits is connected to the fact that I like to work alone. I don’t like to depend on anyone to get my work done, so this is my way to take full responsibility: if I succeed, the credit is all mine, but if I fail it’s also on me. That’s the kind of process I’ve been most comfortable with.
Tell us a story about one of your pictures? What is your favourite shot and why?
There’s a story that is common to most of my levitation shots, but especially with the ‘Set Fire to the Rain’ one. I was getting on the stool I always use for levitations and I fell to the side and hurt my arm. But that’s something that happens a lot with me. I tend to put myself in tough situations for shots and end up bruised.
Regarding my favourite shots, I don’t think I could ever pick just one, and if I did, it would always be my last shot. I have a couple of favorites from my 365 project (The Fallen Angel is one of them) but I tend to like the ones I’ve just finished. The Threading Darnkness series, which I just took on an abandoned Sanatorium, is also very dear to me.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to face to get a great picture?
I tend to put my own safety on the line for photos, which I know is not the smartest thing to do, but it’s the kind of thrill that keeps me going. For one of my 365 shots, I stood on the perch of my building’s rooftop with nothing but air between me and the ground. It was a 7 story building, so you see how that was scary, but I adore the result and it makes me feel that much more accomplished for having done it. Other challenges have more to do with bruises and cuts and falls, but every single one of them was worth it.
When did you start taking pictures?
I was very young when I got my first camera, maybe 6 or 7 years old. It was a Barbie cam and it worked with what I think were 8mm rolls. I got my first Polaroid camera when I turned 11, and from then on my birthday presents were always photography-related. I never thought about it until I realized a couple of years ago that photography had always been such a part of my life that I nearly ignored it out of habit. That’s when it really clicked and I decided to choose it as a profession.
What’s the message of your photos, what do you want to communicate or accomplish through your work?
I think of my photography as a way to show the world how I see it. I believe everyone has a different vision of what’s around us, we see it in different shades, with different priorities. All I can do with my art is try to show the world how I perceive it. I usually see things in pink and yellow and soft tones. Sometimes I see them dark and twisted and dramatic. Someone else may see the same thing in shades of green or grey. We all see it differently. I hope that by seeing my work people realize that no two people are alike, and that those differences need to be seen and accepted as a part of who we are.
What`s the question you wish I had asked? …and what is the answer?
You could have asked where I find my inspiration, and I’d tell you that a lot of it comes from paintings — mostly Baroque and Romantic — and from seeing other artists’ work on the internet or in galleries. I believe we’re all part of a girlygantic art movement, so we’re bound to take this or that from the work we see around us. That’s the beauty of having art available to us at a mere click’s distance.
(Images © Luminous Lu)
More of Luminous’s work here
