About Carlos David
I’m Carlos David, a portrait photographer based in New York City.
I didn’t grow up dreaming about cameras or lighting setups. I studied literature in Mexico, moved to New York thinking I’d be a writer or an actor (I had terrible stage fright, so that didn’t pan out), and ended up teaching Spanish at the Cervantes Institute while learning photography on weekends.
A friend taught me how to use a camera and got me gigs shooting nightlife—clubs, fashion shows, live events. It was a crash course: every weekend I’d photograph real people in real time and get paid to learn. From there I moved into fashion, editorial work, and eventually started building my own projects.
One of those projects was called Personae—I worked with makeup artists and stylists to give people outside the fashion world the experience of a high-end photoshoot. Neighbors, friends, strangers. Ninety-eight portraits of people transformed into their alter egos or dream characters. The work got exhibited in New York, Croatia, Slovenia, and England, and I loved every minute of it because it was about people, not just pictures.
I kept going in that direction. I did a second Personae series focused on underrepresented communities—Black, Latino, LGBTQ, people with disabilities—14 portraits, each with video interviews. Then I spent years doing stock photography centered on diversity. Then documentary work. At one point I was invited to be the interviewer for a Smithsonian project about Latino culture, which meant sitting across from people like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eva Longoria, and Emilio Estefan and getting them to open up on camera.
Somewhere in all of that, I realized what I’m actually good at: making people feel seen and comfortable. Not performing. Not pretending. Just present.
How I work
These days I focus on headshots and personal branding photography. It’s more practical than art projects, but it’s built on everything I’ve learned—about people, about direction, about what makes someone relax in front of a camera.
The session is fully guided. You don’t need to know what to do with your hands or how to stand. I’ll walk you through it. The goal is to get you images that feel like you and work across LinkedIn, your website, press kits, pitch decks—wherever you need them.
I work out of my studio in New York and split my time between here, Slovenia (where my daughters live), and Mexico (where my family is). If you’re in New York and need new portraits, let’s talk.
The Short Version
I’ve been photographing people for nearly 20 years. My images have been published in places like The New York Times. I’ve worked with organizations like Adobe, the Smithsonian, Creative Capital, and Friends of the High Line. But honestly, the thing I care about most is whether you leave the session feeling good and whether the photos actually work for you.
If you’re ready for a session that’s guided and built around you, I’d love to work with you.
