Carles Carabi was born in Barcelona, Spain but didn’t take to photography immediately. He played around with cameras for years, and saved up to buy his first one at 19. But it wasn’t until after spending some time in Germany that he decided to jump full time into the craft. Working in electronics and communications was unsatisfying, but a trip to a Magnum Exhibition in Berlin changed everything. “I remember seeing all these incredible images of different people and situations from all over the world in various environments, from Japan to the US, Afghanistan, India, Russia... It was just one of the best experiences I had in my life in an exhibition.” It was then that he threw himself into photography. If he could see the world and meet people like those in the photos he saw, he knew it was exactly what he wanted to do.
Upon his return to Barcelona he enrolled in a photography program and “had fun at school for the first time in my life.” Even then he didn’t think it could be a real career until he found himself almost a decade into his study and working as a photo assistant. He finally admitted to himself that this was his path, and it’s been an exciting ride ever since.
Carles is most inspired by the people he meets along his journey. Whether it’s world famous athletes, like Lionel Messi and Neymar, who have built themselves up from troubled childhoods to fame off the pure strength of their skill, or learning about a new culture in the Middle East or Africa, seeing the world through the other end of a lens is what inspires Carles. His travels have taken him across the globe, producing a list of visited countries longer than most can imagine. His clients, including Adidas, Beats, Gillette, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and T-Mobile, continue to send him all over the world and there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than everywhere.