Hello, my name is Michael Dragaschnig.
I am a photographer from Portugal.
Originally, I come from Austria, where I was trained as an electrician.
Seeking for more in life, I quit my job and attended the Academy of Photography in Graz, Austria. Since then my camera has been my constant companion.
I started off shooting my friends riding their skate- or snowboards in the mountains of Austria. Over a decade ago, I came to Portugal to travel, to surf and to photograph. I knew from the beginning that Portugal is where I belonged. There was an unexplainable feeling of coming home. I fell in love with the country, its people, the nature, the ocean, and of course, the waves.
In 2014, I established my company, Arbo Arto. It started as a way to photograph local surfers and connect to the sea but has since grown into artist expressions of several mediums. Whether wood sculptures, screen printing my graphic designs, Portugal and the connection to nature has been an oasis of inspiration to me. With the arrival of our son in 2020 I can proudly say we became a small family business.
Whenever I capture a specific moment or I create something new from a piece of driftwood- I feel purely alive and grateful.
This joy is something I strive to share with my artwork.
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