FilmNeverDie Sits Down With Joao Deloie

We'll get through the formalities first, so tell us a bit about yourself, your background, interests and what it is you do. Oh and how to properly pronounce your name.  

Hey there! My name is João Deloie. My mum is Brazilian and my dad German/Italian. I grew up on the Sunshine Coast in QLD though, and moved to Melbourne around 2 years ago. Haha, my name is pronounced kind of similar to ‘Jo-ow’, but with a soft J. I’ll leave this here as it’s impossible to explain through text. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH8H55wogoQ 

How long have you been shooting and what are your go to tools? (Cameras and films stocks) 

I have been shooting on film for around two and a half years now. Most of the time I’ll be shooting on my Pentax 645. I like it as it’s pretty compact as far as medium format SLR’s go, and it’s ergonomic design is relatively similar to a contemporary DSLR. It also has a bunch of useful features, such as different forms of metering, automatic rewind, etc. Other than that I always carry my Ricoh Gr1s in either my jacket pocket, or sidebag for more diary-esque style photos. A lot of my older work is shot either on a Contax G1 or RB67 however I do not use either of them anymore as the G1 died on me, and the RB67 was way too big. In terms of film stocks, I prefer Kodak. I shoot all my color with Portra, and sometimes Cinestill (which is a rebranded Kodak stock). I don’t shoot as much black and white but when I do I generally go with Ilford stocks. 

So why photography and film in particular?  

I got into photography as I’ve always loved movies/films, and initially it felt like a more accessible form of visual story telling. I also want to eventually move into cinematography, which of course photography is going to be very similar too. I also liked the autonomy of it, as opposed to a film set which always involved the influence of other people. 

A number of your photos have a quiet cinematic feel about them, would you say that your studies/ love of cinema has influenced your photography?  

Yeah I would say that I am influenced more so cinematographers, than actual photographers. I knew barely any photographers for so long when I had just started shooting haha. 

Are there any directors or photographers who you look up to? (And why they inspire you) 

Benoit Debie is a cinematographer (Enter The Void, Spring breakers) who shoots all his films on 35mm motion picture. His use of really neon lighting is pretty influential on my style. Otherwise, Innrratu’s film Biutful was one of the first film that inspired me want to shoot. A screen grab out of ‘Biutiful’ is super similar to the Cinestill 800T street photography that’s pretty popular at the moment. The film ‘Good Time’ that came out last year used a lot of similar neon lights, and really cropped in close-up shots which I apply in my work pretty often. My favorite actual photographer at the moment is this the guy from UK called Maxime Imbert. A lot of his photos are surreal studio fashion portraits that look like they could be out of Blue Velvet or something haha. 

You already seem to have a solid, unique style of photography and in a world saturated with images that's so important, so what would your advice be to aspiring photographers?  

Uhmmm, to not get too focused on the gear! No one cares if photos of your Labradors or your daughter are taken on a Hassleblad, or Mamiya 7II haha. 

Where can we find your work and connect with you? 
 
HMU on my Instagram, @bdchrctr