February 26, 2017

Meet Tito Vilela of Tito Vilela Photography in Encino

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tito Vilela.

Tito, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Very early on I had access to cameras. Whenever I traveled alone or with family, I always had to have a camera with me. At that time I photographed a little of everything. Little by little I became more discerning about the things I saw and attracted to me the most. I soon came to the conclusion that it would be people my favorite target. Since then this has been my percussion, trying to deepen through photography the human body with everything inherent.

Has it been a smooth road?
In life, there are situations where it is not always possible for us to follow a comfortable road, but I strongly believe that in the overwhelming majority of cases we are ourselves to choose the more or less harsh ways. Partly because we make choices that are not the most appropriate at the time, but I would not say that they are errors. In a retrospective of my walk with a camera in my hands, I must say that all the options taken have definitely served to grow as a professional but also how to improve as a person.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Tito Vilela Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
One area that I feel free with the camera is photographing men. The reason, however, is very simple. As a kid, I would spend part of the summer in northern Portugal. My father’s family lived there and all my uncles and cousins played football at the local club. I photographed a few rolls that later I would take to the store to reveal them, But it’s the 70’s and 80’s games on TV (you find them on YouTube) that fascinate me the most. I loved to see the players’ uniforms very fair to the body. The shorts were small and fair, not like in the 90’s where you see long and wide ones. I saw the shape of the human body and remembered some of the most beautiful sculptures carved by the masters, fascinating. I have several projects in mind different from what I have done until today, it will be another development process. I enjoy shooting headshots as well, giving me the opportunity to be close to people. I will open a swimwear gallery on my website soon, photographing the female body is an art and so a challenge that I am very much looking forward.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Art is and will always be an unfinished process, a bit like our lives, there is always something that leads us to add more to it. We add an extra touch and may lead us to rethink the act but this is a virtue because it gives us a comprehensive view that we can change to improve. The world and everything that surrounds changes and in seconds later is already all different, Embracing change in our lives is crucial to whatever activity we set out to do. Something I deeply believe is that having the means to create art today is accessible to anyone, but art requires something that only the soul of each one of us can give. The beauty of the future is that we can predict and even shape it in a way, but it’s actually an unknown. An artist has to be ready for what the next day brings in whatever it is. The photography industry has changed significantly and undoubtedly the next fifteen years will be fascinating.

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