Faces

Gabriela holds a BFA in photography from the Art Institute of Boston and a M.Ed. in Art Education from Lesley University. She currently teaches photography and drawing in Miami.

Gabriela Bello Ugalde was born in a beach town in Cuba, where the light is almost magical. The light there is also inescapable, it's all around when you've climbed into the canopy of a mango tree, you see the sun's rays penetrating the water as you swim, and the reflection of the sunrise in your bedroom mirror awakens you. But at this time she didn't think of photography as anything other than a way to record birthdays. It was not until high school, guided by an amazing teacher, that photography become a part of her vocabulary. At first, the most impressive part of the medium was the magic of the latent image. Being in the darkroom that first time and dumping a piece of pristine white, exposed paper in the developer and seeing an image revealing itself slowly: that was the most savoury moment she can remember throughout her education. It was when she went to college that Gabriela found the other, and perhaps even more magical, part of photography: intriguing the mind. She says:'It helps me work though problems, answers all my questions and allows me to delve into projects.'

During her college years in Boston, away from the sunshine and her family, Gabriela became interested in photographing a family, almost as a surrogate. She documented a family for two years, working up to photographing and documenting her own. Pointing the lens at her family, was particularly nerve wrecking at first, both for herself and her family, but once the first few days passed by and they just got used to the camera, things began to flow and she was able to capture them how she really saw them.

Through spending time with them she was able to really pick up on how their personalities came out through gestures and wrinkles. This also helped her realise that the more you care for the person you are shooting, the more compelling your images will be.