Welcome to Roberto Cabral

I guess the first post on a new blog should always be a “welcome” post, so here it is.  “WELCOME!” Even though this is not my first website blog, or my first website or my first picture, this is the first blog I’m posting on this site Roberto Cabral.

To start with most people know me as Robert, not Roberto, so the most common question is, “Why are you going by Roberto on this site?”  Simple, my birth name is Roberto Cabral, the name my father wanted me to have and since I have launched this site with a photo exhibition dedicated to my dad, I wanted to do it the justice fitting what he named me.  So you can call me Robert or Roberto, its all the same to me, but now you know this isn’t some artistic trick I devised. LOL

I’ve been photographing one thing or another for most of my life. In high school my passion really took heart when I got my first 35MM camera, yes it was film, that’s all we knew then and I still love to shoot film.  I was the photographer in high school, shot pictures of all the girls and eventually had quite a career in beauty and pinup photography.  I was always drawn to beauty, whether that was in art, photography, people or nature.  I saw things differently than most and my descriptions were always more visual than verbal.  I had a hard time putting into words what I saw – so photography was a way to communicate what I felt.

The last few years I found myself photographing animals more and more and dogs were a constant subject for me, mainly because of my work with my non-profit, Bound Angels.  However, I felt compelled to travel to Africa and capture the beauty of this place, differently than I had seen it in other images.  I am a big fan of the black & white African images of Nick Brandt and Peter Lindbergh, I am a huge fan of Helmut Newton and Alfred Eisenstadt, but the artist in me always saw things my own way.  So these men inspired me to see things the way I could see them.  Sort of a self-awakening.  Thank God for them!

Africa totally changed my life, in every way possible; mentally, spiritually, physically and most important artistically.  I don’t think any one experience ever had the profound effect on me that this trip to Africa did.

I spent almost 3 weeks there, travelling between Rwanda and Kenya.  I photographed EVERY DAY.  I was in the car or on foot for 12 hours a day taking pictures and experiencing a world that I never felt before – a world that has stayed with me every since.

The images on this site encapsulate some of that experience, there will be more as I travel there again, release more images and share with you my fine-art photography, conservation and the beauty of Africa.  I hope you’ll enjoy my art and share it with your friends.  I’ll also post upcoming art shows, talks, trips and more.  Please stay in touch.

Roberto Cabral