Debbie Carlos

Debbie Carlos was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Manila, Philippines. She has since studied psychology at Clark University in Massachusetts and photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Her photos attempt to capture objects at their moments of greatest clarity: In certain light, at a certain time of day, in a certain place. The method is to wander and notice. Moments of quiet strangeness, patterns of light and shadow, minute-by-minute surprises, changes that don’t happen, something askew, something exactly in place, natural and artificial phenomena, are all sources of inspiration, and the subjects for her work

a sneak peak of Debbie Carlos for The Radder

Favorite Tools

For photography, I use a Canon 6D with a 24-70mm lens as a good all around lens. I also have a Sony A6000 that I carry around with me a lot because it is smaller and lighter. I also cannot live without Adobe Lightroom for viewing, organizing and editing photos. I bring photos into Photoshop if I need to edit more heavily.

For jewelry making, a pair of simple flat nosed pliers are essential.

Favorite eats around Asia

I’m traveling around Asia as I write this and when I travel, everything is planned around eating. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Tabi Bagel is the tiniest, cutest bagel shop tucked away in the Yanaka neighborhood of Tokyo. They make Montreal style bagels with pockets of sweet red bean filling folded in. My favorite was the black sesame bagel.

Abé’s is a Filipino restaurant in the Philippines, serving homestyle comfort food. Their sinigang sa bayabas has become my favorite rendition of this Filipino sour soup. It is made with guava and is not shy on the fruitiness but it balances the sourness so well. I could have had the whole pot!

Taiwanese sandwiches with some combination of ham, cheese, egg, cucumber, mayo and always always always with rou song (pork floss) is a favorite comfort food whenever I visit. Its made with this really soft, white bread and looks like a tall layered sandwich. You can get it at bakeries and there are really good versions even at convenience stores.

Favorite eats in Michigan

When I’m back home in Michigan, my favorite coffee is at Strange Matter Coffee in Lansing and if you ever find yourself in Detroit, a cocktail and the fresh potato chips topped with white cheddar, bacon and scallions are a must at Wright and Company.