Creative Director, self-taught Photographer and Filmmaker based in Brussels. Xavier Portela started his career as a web developer after studying Multimedia in Belgium.
In 2012, he decided to drop his career as developer and his comfortable position for Bose Europe to work on his own, in order to follow his passion for images and become a photographer.
Since then he is known for his visual onslaught of signs and neon lights series: Glow, an ongoing personal project for which he travels the world to capture various cities at night, inviting us to dive in the atmosphere of those locations.
Xavier Portela is known for capturing the energy of cities at night. Focusing on the neon-soaked streets of vibrant urban centers, Portela’s Glow series is a surreal look at life in the city. And now, after Tokyo and Kobe, Portela is back in Japan. This time, he’s ventured to Kyoto. Considered the cultural heart of Japan, the former capital is known for its wealth of temples and shrines. But, as Portela’s photos demonstrate, the city is also distinctly modern.
In Portela’s photographs, the streets of the city glow with paper lanterns and neon signs. Because, while Kyoto isn’t as built up as Tokyo, it is still a thriving metropolis. Between the ancient shrines and monuments exists a bustling city full of life. It’s a city that Portela has visited twice and one that so enchanted him that a visit that was supposed to last just a few days transformed into two weeks.
Photographer Xavier Portela is known for his Glow series, which takes us to neon cityscapes around the world.
His latest series takes us to Kyoto, which he calls “one of those places where you will feel home even if you are very far from it.”
His nighttime photographs give a unique perspective on Japan’s cultural capital.
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