Carlos David

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Headshots & Personal Branding Photography
For the modern professional
A guided, editorial-style photography experience for creatives, professionals, and entrepreneurs who want portraits that stop the scroll.

09/02/2026

Yesenia has been my muse in both versions of PERSONAE. In the first, she transformed into Wonder Woman and Marilyn Monroe. When I invited her back for the second, she answered almost instantly: she wanted to be Cleopatra.

Watch the full interview and you’ll understand why.

PERSONAE II explores how the human spirit, expressed through dreams, fantasy, and imagination, can endure and transcend to offer perspective on lived experience.

Yesenia ha sido mi musa en las dos versiones de PERSONAE. En la primera se transformó en la Mujer Maravilla y en Marilyn Monroe. Cuando la invité a la segunda, casi al instante me respondió que quería ser Cleopatra.

Mira la entrevista completa y vas a entender por qué.

PERSONAE II explora cómo el espíritu, expresado a través de los sueños, la fantasía y la imaginación, puede perdurar y trascender para ofrecer una perspectiva sobre la experiencia de vida.

Credits
Talent
Cleopatra — Yesenia Torres .torres

Carlos David – Director,
Photographer.
Carlos Bido – Filmmaker
Janet Mervin – Costume Designer
Jason Linkow – Beauty Director
Maiko Ando – Makeup Artist
Mercedes Gorostiaga – Location portraits & BTS
Veronica Galvez – Producer
Elliott Ortiz – Creative Consultant & Media Relations
Sarah Rubio – PA


Prints by

This project was made thanks to the support of

09/01/2026

Opening day was a surprise, because I wasn’t expecting so many people. What happened was that the exhibition included more than a hundred portraits, and each person photographed invited three or four friends, so by the middle of the night we were more than four hundred people.

Another surprise was that when people recognized someone from a photo, they’d strike up a conversation: Why did you choose that character? How do you identify with that person? Would I be…? And then the exhibition, the work itself, became a bridge between different communities.

When I understood this, the pieces and the concept as a neutral meeting point between different worlds, I began Personae II, where we created fourteen portraits connected only by a thread of conflict or trauma, with the goal of creating a connection between individuals from different, underrepresented communities, and starting a dialogue around critical social issues.

El día de apertura fue una sorpresa, porque no esperaba a tanta gente. Lo que pasó fue que la exhibición constaba de más de cien retratos, y cada persona retratada invitó a tres o cuatro amigos, así que a la mitad de la noche éramos más de cuatrocientas personas.

Otra sorpresa fue que, cuando la gente reconocía a alguien de una foto, entablaba una conversación: ¿Por qué elegiste ese personaje? ¿Cómo te identificas con esa persona? ¿Yo sería…? Y entonces la exhibición, la obra, se transformó en un puente entre diferentes comunidades.

Cuando entendí esto, las piezas y el concepto como un punto de encuentro neutral entre mundos distintos, comencé Personae II, en donde creamos catorce retratos unidos solamente por una línea de conflicto o trauma, con el objetivo de crear una conexión entre individuos de diferentes comunidades con poca representación, e iniciar el diálogo sobre temas sociales críticos.

Thank you for the interview Fedor Sokolov 💫
Fallen Angel Elliott Ortiz | Choreographer /Movement Director
Gallery El Barrio's Artspace PS109
MUA Engelina Inez Wibowo
Giannina Gutierrez
Fine art prints Printique by Adorama

08/28/2026

¿En quién te transformarías?

Esa pregunta ha llevado a cientos de personas a transformarse frente a la cámara. Pero PERSONAE no habría llegado tan lejos sin algo más grande que la idea misma: una comunidad.

¿Qué pasa cuando una comunidad se une en torno a una idea?

A veces tenemos la fortuna de que una idea resuene con las personas a nuestro alrededor. Cuando esto sucede, un proyecto que era solo una visión, un sueño, adquiere el potencial de convertirse en realidad.

PERSONAE empezó como un sueño y, gracias al apoyo de amigos, vecinos, conocidos y de la comunidad de East Harlem, El Barrio, se convirtió en una exhibición itinerante que se ha presentado en Nueva York, México, Inglaterra, Eslovenia y Croacia.

Y en un proyecto que sigue evolucionando.

En los próximos meses empezaré la tercera versión de PERSONAE. Por ahora es solo una idea, un sueño, que espero que pronto se vuelva realidad.
¿Quieres ser parte de ella?

Who would you transform into?

That question has led hundreds of people to transform in front of the camera. But PERSONAE wouldn’t have come this far without something bigger than the idea itself: a community.

What happens when a community comes together around an idea?

Sometimes we’re lucky enough that an idea resonates with the people around us. When that happens, a project that was just a vision, a dream, gains the potential to become real.

PERSONAE began as a dream and, thanks to the support of friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and the East Harlem, El Barrio community, it became a traveling exhibition shown in New York, Mexico, England, Slovenia, and Croatia.

And a project that keeps evolving.

In the coming months I’ll begin the third version of PERSONAE. For now it’s just an idea, a dream, that I hope will soon become real.
Want to be part of it?

Video credit Carlos Bido
Prints Printique by Adorama
Gallery El Barrio's Artspace PS109

08/26/2026

Siempre me he preguntado quién se siente la gente por dentro. Cuando vas en el metro y miras a otra persona, ¿cómo piensa que se ve? ¿Cómo le gustaría verse? ¿Quién le gustaría ser?

Esas preguntas dieron origen al proyecto Personae, retratos de ficción personal.

Invitamos a una persona a transformarse en su alter ego, o en un personaje de su imaginación. Con un equipo de maquillaje, peinado y diseño, hacemos la transformación realidad.

¿Y tú? ¿En quién te transformarías?

I’ve always wondered who people feel like on the inside. When you’re on the subway and you look at someone else, how do they think they look? How would they like to look? Who would they like to be?

Those questions gave birth to Personae, portraits of personal fiction.

We invite a person to transform into their alter ego, or into a character from their imagination. With a team of makeup artists, hairstylists, and designers, we make the transformation real.

And you? Who would you transform into?

Thanks to Printique by Adorama for the beautiful prints ❤️

08/21/2026

Spent some time with Fedor Fedor Sokolov talking about Dreams & Obstacles, the night he curates based on Barbara Sher’s formula. The Juicy Times NYC

Here’s how it works: you stand up, say what you want to achieve, and name what’s in the way. Then the entire room steps in to pull apart the obstacle, drop introductions, give practical shortcuts, and bounce breakthrough ideas.

We also walked through El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 El Barrio's Artspace PS109
On my floor, I have prints from my last exhibition, featuring American Latino/a/e/x Artist Portraits and Portraits of New Yorkers: an exploration of self, personality, and profession. With a lighting setup inspired by the Renaissance masters Rembrandt and Caravaggio.

Each portrait is paired with a podcast conversation, in which the participant talks about what it means to be an artist and a professional in New York.

08/20/2026

Just a few hours before flying to Croatia, I had a visit from the amazing artist Fedor Fedor Sokolov

We toured the studio and the building, and spent some time talking about past, present, and future projects.

I’m always like a kid when a new collaboration starts.

And of course, I had to show him some of the toys I’ve been using for my documentary about affordable housing for artists at PS109.

I’m mainly using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K . It’s incredible what you can do with this little beauty.

(Thank you for the gear loan! Carlos Bido )

08/18/2026

Welcome to PS109
A serendipitous encounter just at the best moment.
Excited about what's next ✨

08/18/2026

A serendipitous encounter just at the perfect moment.
Super excited about what's next! ✨

08/06/2026

When you work on an interview-based documentary, it is hard to hold on to every story, every soundbite, every moment that only happened once.
PS109 is an art project, so I allow myself the luxury of long interviews, of exploring and discovering. But when it comes time to build the story, all those conversations become a maze.
My good friend Carlos Carlos Bido is always finding creative ways into post-production, and he was generous enough to guide me into building this “Constellation”.
Every soundbite is one click away, and grouped by the themes it belongs to and the speaker.
If you have edited anything, you know how much of the work is just remembering. Where was that line? Who said it? Which take? Constellation gives me a part of my brain back.
I still have interviews to shoot, so it keeps growing. But what used to feel like an impossible maze it starts feeling like something I can navigate.
If you edit, I’d like to know how you keep track of yours. Notebooks, spreadsheets, memory?

Thank you Giannina Gutierrez

This project is possible thanks to the support of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone El Barrio's Artspace PS109 Carlos Bido

“When I moved to New York at 23, the rule of thumb was one quarter of your income went for rent. And it did… $102.70 a m...
08/05/2026

“When I moved to New York at 23, the rule of thumb was one quarter of your income went for rent. And it did… $102.70 a month.”
PS109 resident, who moved to New York in the 60s.

Today, landlords use the 40x rule.
Your annual income has to be forty times the monthly rent, so that housing stays under 30% of what you make.

Income Needed by Apartment Size in New York City:

Studio Apartment
Average Rent: $3,390 per month
Income Required: $135,600 per year

1-Bedroom Apartment
Average Rent: $4,187 per month
Income Required: $167,480 per year

2-Bedroom Apartment
Average Rent: $5,804 per month
Income Required: $232,160 per year

The average income for a freelance artist in New York City is $57,000 a year, according to major labor market platforms.
That means a studio would eat around 71% of everything they make.

Affordable housing for artists can mean the difference between merely surviving and being able to create art in New York City.

What are your thoughts?

——

This project is possible thanks to the support of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone El Barrio's Artspace PS109 Carlos Bido

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215 E 99th Street
New York, NY
10029

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