Whether through his enthusiastic teaching or the hundreds of gigabytes worth of photos he has stored in his SSDs, evidence of Mr. Duarte’s love for photography is everywhere. In recognition of his passion and proficiency, Mr. Duarte is one of the most renowned faculty artists at Belmont Hill and serves as the Chair of Visual Arts.
Mr. Duarte’s journey as an artist was one full of twists and turns. Before college, he “was not a photographer at any point.” It was an art alien to his parents, friends, and even his high school’s curriculum. Instead, Mr. Duarte pursued painting before and during his college years, only briefly showing an interest in photography by considering taking Photo I at his college. Photography only truly entered his life when he began looking for photographers to take pictures of his work for his portfolio. After looking at their egregious pricing, Mr. Duarte realized that a lot of money could be saved in the long term if he bought a camera and took his own photos, a process he thought would be easy. In his later reflections, he called this a “really stupid statement, because it turned out to be, uh… not that easy.” The new challenge of learning photography filled Mr. Duarte’s life after graduation, and the challenge quenched his thirst for knowledge.
Mr. Duarte now has a deep understanding of photography, but he is still constantly looking to improve his craft. One person he draws inspiration from is Gregory Crewdson, a photography professor at Yale. Crewdson’s photos call out to Mr. Duarte because he says that “Crewdson’s not a photographer.” Instead, he is a “world builder”, using the camera as a tool to capture scenes straight from the world he envisioned. To successfully replicate Crewdson’s mental images, the shots must be staged, which makes his work appear fake to some. However, Mr. Duarte finds Crewdson’s storytelling beautiful, and connects it to his own art by saying that “[his] best photographs do the same, where they’re constructed.” At times, upwards of 50 images are used to create a single final result, showcasing Mr. Duarte’s desire to enhance his photos through Crewdson’s techniques.
Still, Mr. Duarte has faced challenges in photography throughout his life. He says that in general, American culture doesn’t support artists, as they need to be constantly on the grind for the next grant or the next residency. “You feel like you’re always in this, like, lonesome battle. Like, it’s always just you and nobody else, and that’s hard.” Mr. Duarte was able to secure his life as an artist by teaching at Belmont Hill, yet even that has its own challenges. Teaching full time is draining, only exacerbated by the fact that he has a family to look after. Both lead to a decrease of time and energy to devote to the next photo. However, he is still able to find opportunities to improve his skills, demonstrating to everyone that you will always find time to do things you love.
To any aspiring photographers, Mr. Duarte advises them to make a habit of practicing photography. Whether it be through taking photos, watching YouTube videos on techniques, practicing using Photoshop, or reading things related to photography, he emphasizes that it is important to have photography on the mind constantly.
