"Fado Ruivo": Portugal Photographer Releases Redhead Series

A Portuguese photographer named Mag Rodrigues is on a mission to capture those not so visible in Portugal society: LGBTQ+ families, women with psychiatric disorders, people with albinism, tattooed skin over the age of 50, and behind-the-scenes workers in healthcare.

There is a new addition to Mag’s work; she did an entire series of beautiful Portuguese redheads in a project called “Fado Ruivo”. In Portuguese it translates to “Red Fado.” It isn’t a direct translation but Mag told The Portugal News that the name was chosen spontaneously. Since the goal was to show red-haired people in Portugal, the challenge was to “try to find a word that describes what Portugal is”. Despite the name of her projects being found spontaneously, Mag had already remembered the word Saudade, but ended up choosing Fado, because associated with red hair “it becomes even more unusual”.

In an article from The Portugal News, Mag explained that redheads aren’t very common in Portugal and often people assume they must be Irish or Scottish. As we know, redheads can come from any country, race, or ethnicity. Also mentioned in the article is Portuguese actress and redhead, Sandra Faleiro.

Mag went on to explain that the redheaded people she photographed were happy to have their picture taken because they rarely receive representation. Being photographed made them feel seen and Mag explained many of the redheads explained they had a “difficult childhood” because of the color of their hair.

Take a look at the stunning work below: