Turning Internal Narratives Into Express Visuals With Ruben Branches 

Name:
Delsey Paris x VISUALPLEASURE
NEW HORIZONS - WORLD TOUR 2024
Portuguese Artist of the week - Ruben Branches 
Photography:
Ruben Branches 
Words:
Erica Nichols

Portugal’s Ruben Branches likes to let his mind wander. Be it nostalgic memories or aspirational voyages, the fashion photographer creates a visual representation of the stories within our limitless consciousness. Branches plays with the whole spectrum of color, from black-and-white to bright and bold, to create scenes that show off a garment, capture a person’s expression, and make an impact. Learn more about how he developed his style and what he created for our DELSEY Paris collaboration.

What came first — a love for fashion or photography?
Ruben Branches: A love for fashion! Since I was a kid, I loved to watch music videos, collect album covers, and photos from teen magazines with all the singers like Britney and Beyoncé. I loved their outfits and the rich visual storytelling behind their work — I think I watched thousands of them! Barbie also played a major role in my life as well, she gave me a lot of creativity to dress her, mix clothes, and learn from it. And of course my mom. In the 90s, she had this very fashion-forward style. Her clothes always had beautiful silhouettes and most of them were custom made and very colorful.

What, to you, are the most important elements of capturing a great photo?
Definitely the model and the scenario. The model is the main factor, alongside the emotion that they’re going to offer the viewers. To me, it’s very important that the model feels comfortable to deliver the best photo.

Your work has a very art-forward feel. How did you develop your style and how do you maintain its integrity with commercial work?
To me, photography is a place where you can create your own art universe and storytelling, where all my photos come from a place of love and respect. Every time I do a commercial work my goal is always to bring an art element to make it more appealing even if subtle.

“To me, photography is a place where you can create your own art universe and storytelling, where all my photos come from a place of love and respect.
”

How does place or location influence your work?
The location, the model, the story, the team, and the styling are really the key for a perfect photo.I have two favorite places — the beach, and its beautiful ocean and sky. Every timeI go there, it’s magical, peaceful, and healing.

How has Portugal shaped you and your artistic perspective?
Portugal is a beautiful country, full of cultural diversity and with amazing creatives across the art spectrum. I’ve worked with so many inspiring, talented people in the last seven years and I’m really grateful to all of them, all the lessons and the inputs that we combined. All these combinations of art, and international art, really shaped me to be the artist that I am.

What ideas, themes, or projects excite you the most?
I consider myself as a restless artist, I never stop. I’m always searching and writing ideas and if I have the chance to create everyday I will. The projects that I love the most are the ones where I can show the beauty of a soul, a place all mixed to create magic. I still have so many goals that I want to achieve in my career and themes to explore, as long as it brings some visual awareness and emotion to the viewer I know I’m in the right place.

How does travel influence your worldview as an artist?
Traveling really opened my mind to all of the cultures, history, fashion and people. Two cities I love from the bottom of my heart are Paris and New York. Everytime I visit, I really feel that people there are free to express their style and are proud of it — I’m a fan of us embracing our genuine selves.

You explore both color and black-and-white equally. Do you have a preference? And how do you decide which to pursue for a project?
Both of them are a state of mind. With black and white, you can express a deeper emotion and focus more on shapes and memories. Color is where I can express the vibrance of the story. The color theory and the emotions that you can also bring to a photo is so interesting that it depends on the story that I want to tell.

Talk to us about what you’re creating for DELSEY.
The concept is about the urge to travel since we were kids. In the 90s, the landscapes and different cultures I’d see on television were so magnificent to me. I wanted to know more than the small village I grew up in. This photoshoot is the possibility of that dream coming true. Besides traveling all around the world physically, our consciousness is limitless and we can travel to wherever we dream of. I used brown and white as styling to represent a white rose with our thoughts and dreams, their pure innocence and existence. Because we live in such a fast-paced world, this photoshoot is dedicated to the healing of our inner child.