Self Portrait – Pine Street Mural, Philadelphia Pa
Bio
Raymond Carballada is a Philadelphia-based fine art photographer whose work focuses on light, structure, and the quiet order found in both natural and built environments. He began photographing at age twelve after saving for a year to buy his first 35mm film camera. He has limited vision in one eye, which shapes how he sees the world and sharpens his attention to form and detail, qualities that guide his work.
Carballada learned his photographic foundations at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied black and white photographic processes before building a career leading and scaling businesses in the media industry. In recent years, he has returned to fine art photography with a renewed commitment to observation, craft, and the physical print.
His photographs grow from curiosity and close attention rather than predefined rules. Some works develop into studies, with structure emerging as they deepen what he is observing. Across projects, his work reflects an interest in how light reshapes familiar spaces and how subtle shifts in time and light can transform a scene.
Carballada works in black and white. This choice is intentional and central to how he understands photography. Without color, his images rely entirely on light, tone, contrast, negative space, and composition. Each photograph must hold through clarity and structure alone, inviting viewers to look closely at how light defines form in a given moment.
His work has been selected for recent exhibitions and gallery shows in Paris, France; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; the United Kingdom; and Vermont. He has also created commissioned pieces for collectors’ homes and architectural spaces.
Approach to the Printed Work
For Carballada, the image captured by the camera is only the starting point. The final artwork is realized through an interpretive printing process carried out by the artist, shaped by judgment, experience, and intent. The physical print is where his work fully takes form.
Carballada’s approach reflects the study of photographic processes developed by masters such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Paul Strand. These studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology, combined with years of darkroom experience, shape how he approaches each finished print.
Printing is an extension of seeing, where the tonal relationships, contrast, and balance are shaped to reflect Carballada’s original intent for the photograph.
His prints are produced using archival pigment inks on Canson Infinity paper, selected for its ability to hold fine detail, smooth tonal transitions, and depth across the grayscale. Each print is finished with a protective coating for long-term stability. Editions are limited, signed, and documented with a certificate of authenticity.
Selected Exhibitions
Philadelphia Art Show, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Delaware Art Show, Wilmington, Delaware
PhotoPlace Gallery, Vermont
Paris International Street Photography Awards, Paris, France
Prism Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aurea Photogallery, London, United Kingdom
Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Crary Art Gallery, Warren, Pennsylvania
The Way I See
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