Nacho Doce

Nacho Doce

Based
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Born
Ferrol, Spain
Status
Photographer
“I take pictures for people who want to think and feel.”

Beat

I cover all sorts of assignments.

One Shot

. Lisbon, Portugal. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
A rooster on a farm in the small village of Meco, in Lisbon, peers out from behind a wall.
“I don't have any particular image that is my favourite, but there is one that I always remember because of the reaction it provokes in me - a rooster on a farm in Portugal. I took many pictures on this assignment, but when editing the photos, I opened this image and remember being quite scared because the rooster seemed very human in its expression.”

Profile

Along with a friend, I picked up photography when I was 18 years old. Besides studying at the Instituto de Fotografia de Catalonia in Barcelona, I also spent a lot of time going to photography exhibitions when I was younger.

My first assignment for Reuters was a complete disaster. I was supposed to shoot the presidents of Portugal, Germany, Poland, Finland, Hungary and Latvia, but I didn't manage to take any good photos - moreover, I only had photos of three of them! I was so nervous because it was my first job and only three pictures went on the wire. I learnt that I needed to understand the focus of the story (in terms of news) to shoot relevant photos.

Covering the life of the Santos de Souza family, who collect papers for recycling and then sell them on the streets of downtown Sao Paulo, left a big mark on me. The father found a wallet near the door of an apartment block and the doorman would not open the door, because he was afraid the family would steal money from him. Thankfully, someone else opened the door and it turned out that the wallet belonged to one of the residents in the block. The experience showed me that there is honesty on the streets – and sometimes there is more honour than among those who have more.

I take pictures for people who want to think and feel.

I still haven’t learnt to carry a small camera with me! I always, always see pictures and realise I don't have a camera with me to capture the moment.

I respect Arnold Newman, a portrait photographer who makes pictures so evocative that you feel as if you are getting an intimate glimpse into the lives of the people in the photos. I also admire James Nachtwey. His pictures are three-dimensional and multi-layered. You have to look very closely at various parts of the photo as each section has a different story to tell.

Behind the Scenes

. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Alan Morici
Reuters photographer Nacho Doce photographs a roadblock set up by members of Brazil's Roofless Workers' Movement (MTST) who are living at the "People's World Cup Camp", during a protest in front of Sao Paulo's World Cup stadium.
. Sao Paulo, Brazil
Doce photographs a camp that houses an estimated 8,000 families from Brazil's Roofless Workers Movement, who last year occupied a 100-hectare plot to demand affordable low-income housing.