Carlos Afonso Dias
Portugal
Carlos Afonso Dias (Lisbon, 1930–2010) was a geographer and engineer by profession, working between 1957 and 1967 at the Overseas Geography Centre and dedicating himself to fisheries research in Angola from 1967 to 1981. That year, he returned to Portugal and joined the National Fisheries Research Institute. Drawing was one of his early passions, highlighted by his collaborations with the press of MUD Juvenil, which he joined in 1948. In 1953, he acquired his first camera, considering photography as an additional outlet for his wide range of interests.
Between 1957 and 1958, he spent time with Gérard Castello-Lopes and others, leading him to photograph with greater intensity, often using his travels as a pretext for developing a body of work. In the subsequent period, and until the late 1960s, he remained active in photography, though without public recognition. In 1989, the exhibition Fotografias (1954/69), accompanied by a catalogue and organised by Galeria Ether in Lisbon, brought his work out of obscurity.
In his later years, he resumed photography, albeit sporadically. In 2001, the Portuguese Centre for Photography in Porto produced a retrospective exhibition, Fotografias/1954-1970, along with an accompanying catalogue.
Between 1957 and 1958, he spent time with Gérard Castello-Lopes and others, leading him to photograph with greater intensity, often using his travels as a pretext for developing a body of work. In the subsequent period, and until the late 1960s, he remained active in photography, though without public recognition. In 1989, the exhibition Fotografias (1954/69), accompanied by a catalogue and organised by Galeria Ether in Lisbon, brought his work out of obscurity.
In his later years, he resumed photography, albeit sporadically. In 2001, the Portuguese Centre for Photography in Porto produced a retrospective exhibition, Fotografias/1954-1970, along with an accompanying catalogue.
