Biography
I'm Carlota Leitão, a documentary and commercial photographer based in Porto, Portugal
I have been working as a photographer for 18 years. My starting point is always documentary photography — real stories, real contexts, real people. That’s the same eye I bring to commercial work: real light, real context, real atmosphere.
I began my training in 2002 at the Instituto Português da Juventude (IPJ) and deepened it in 2007 with the professional Photography course at the Instituto Português de Fotografia (IPF), in Porto.
Documentary photography
What drives me is not the most aesthetic or shocking moment, but what happens beyond it — the emotion, the context, and the human effort behind each reality.
Over the years I have developed projects on drag culture, medical emergency, humanitarian work, pandemic lockdown, and shamanic rituals in Nepal. These projects have taken me to exhibit in Portugal, Italy, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Chile, and my work has been published in outlets such as Jornal de Notícias, Expresso, Visão, Caras, Lens Magazine, and Volta ao Mundo, which dedicated an interview to me in September 2023.
In 2024 I was honoured with two international BIFA awards — Silver in the Editorial/Journalism category and Bronze in the People/Lifestyle category.
Commercial photography
In commercial photography I work with brands and companies in product, food, architecture, interiors, and hospitality photography — always with the same documentary approach: no artifice, no excess.
In 2009 I founded Fullframe, a company dedicated to commercial photography in Porto. My clients have included UberEats, Kankura Golf, Ecco, Zoo, Casa de Gouvães, Tanagra, Holiday Inn Express, and Lvpremier, among others.
In 2012 I published the technical book Luzes Câmara Ação, co-authored with photographer Pedro do Canto Brum.
In 2026 I closed Fullframe and brought all my work — documentary and commercial — together in one place, under my own name.
I live and work in Porto, from where I regularly travel for photography projects throughout Portugal and abroad.
Exhibitions - Awards - Publications
Exhibitions - Awards - Publications
Exhibitions
2023 – CEWE Photo Award 2023 Exhibition across Europe.
2023 – Group exhibition VISIONS with the project — “It’s the little things” — Tapial Virtual — Santiago, Chile.
2022 – Group exhibition DISCONNECT with the project — Under the skin — Holy Art Gallery, London.
2022 – Group exhibition AESTHETICA with the project Quarentena — Holy Art Gallery, London.
2011 – “INEM — Histórias do Limbo” — Casa do Alto, Maia.
2010 – Group exhibition “Make History Second Exhibition” — Italy.
2010 – Group exhibition “A visão de duas mulheres sobre o transformismo” — Café Fénix | Grupo F4 Invitation..
2010 – “Voyeur” — Centro Cultural de Trofa.
2010 – “Voyeur” — Group exhibition at Junta de Freguesia de Sandim.
2009 – “Voyeur” — IPF (Instituto Português de Fotografia), Porto.
2009 – “”Voyeur” — Group exhibition — II Bienal de Milheirós.
2008 – Group exhibition “Lá e Cá” — Competition distinguishing the best student work of the year at IPF — Porto, Lisbon, and Senac Brasil — Brasília.
2003 – Group exhibition at various IPJ delegations — Theme: “Nu”.
Awards
BIFA 2024 – Silver Award in Analog / Film / Editorial / Journalism / 2024 – Shamanic Ritual in Kathmandu — Nepal. August 2023.
BIFA 2024 – Bronze Award in People / Lifestyle / 2024 – Harmony by the Sea: A Parade of Styles and Memories
CEWE Photo Award 2023 – Among the top 30! In one of the world’s largest photography competitions, with over half a million photographs from 147 countries, I contributed to a donation of €50,961.20 to SOS Children’s Villages.
Make History Second Edition – Worldwide year-long photography competition — one of the 3 photo stories selected for online publication and one of the 101 finalists for exhibition and book publication, in a competition with 2,398 photographers and 9,667 submitted works.
Winner of the “Lá e Cá” competition promoted by IPF Porto, Lisbon, and São Paulo, a competition recognising the best student works of the year.
Publications
2024 – Lens Magazine, May 2024, issue no. 116. The MIX Edition 2024. Shamanic Ritual in Kathmandu.
2023 – Volta ao Mundo Magazine — September. Article | Through Carlota Leitão’s Lens — Images That Speak.
2023 – Lens Magazine, August 2023, issue no. 107. Usury Victims Take Part in Protest in Kathmandu.
2023 – August — Publication of several photo stories in various Nepalese newspapers, namely Enewspolar, Ehimalaya, and Myrepública.
2012 – Technical book on studio photography “Luzes Câmara Ação”, self-published in partnership with photographer Pedro do Canto Brum, with the aim of providing students, amateurs, and professionals with a resource that explains and illustrates how studio photography is produced.
2010 – Book “Make History Second Edition”.
2010 – Front page of national newspaper “Jornal de Notícias” — 5 March 2010, photo story “5 cars set on fire in two days”.