Hugo de Melo is a street photographer based in New York City. Born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he moved to the U.S. when he was 19 years old, and settled in New York City where he’s been living for the past 16 years.
A long-time admirer of photographers like Sebastião Salgado and Steve McCurry, Hugo discovered his own passion for photography while pursuing a Ph.D. in political science. His studies on social movements and protests led him to go out and photograph rallies both in Sao Paulo and New York. After quitting graduate school, Hugo found in ordinary scenes of everyday life the inspiration to make images that tell stories and document life as it happens around him.
Through his photographs, we get a new chance to look at so often missed moments in our daily lives. Moments that most of us would see as ordinary and routine, reveal how extraordinary they can be when seen framed in his photographs.
