Born in York, Ontario, Canada, Manuela Nudo studied in North York and Montreal, attending York University, Concordia University, and Dawson College. While studying Philosophy and Black and White Photography in Montreal, she began developing her fascination with the relationship between light and darkness — and a curiosity into what allows us to gravitate toward one extreme or the other.

Working primarily with natural light, she creates landscape, portrait, and street photography that captures the complexities of the moment. Alongside her photographic practice, she produces music, short films, and curates intimate exhibitions.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My work is rooted in observation. I am drawn to people, places, and landscapes as they are—unfiltered, imperfect, and honest. Rather than constructing a scene, I prefer to discover it, allowing natural light and the environment to shape the image.

I have always admired Helmut Newton’s approach to working with available light. As he once said, “I never work with electric light, only natural. Look at my pictures and you’ll see none of them have been manipulated. It’s what I call old-fashioned photography.” That philosophy continues to inspire how I look through the lens and what I strive to express in every photograph.