Pastel-coloured, dreamy travel photographs by Teresa Freitas to brighten your day

Born in "bright and sunny" Lisbon where she still lives, Teresa graduated from the city's Faculty of Fine Arts with a degree in Multimedia Art, followed by a master's degree in design and new media, so it's interesting to see her follow a passion for photography instead – something that she believes came from Instagram where today, she has over 222,000 followers.

"My original plan was to be a multimedia designer but I realised it was possible for me to have a photography career, one that didn't involve shooting at events or weddings, as a lot of people made me believe to be the only way to make a living as a photographer in Portugal," she tells Creative Boom.

"As my audience on Instagram grew and my work developed in new creative directions, major brands began to seek me out for collaborations." In fact, her success on social media has proved so fruitful that for the last two or three years, she's been working as a full-time photographer and content creator for brands such as Netflix, Kenzo, Pantone, Huawei and Polaroid.

"My work focuses on how colour can transport us to a subtle change of reality," she adds. "While the places in my photographs exist, at the same time there is something a little bit 'off' about them. There's a painterly quality that can make us stop and reconsider if we're looking at a photograph or a painting. My biggest inspirations come from painting masters and their own colour work, and cinematography."

Here, we share Cinematica, Teresa's ongoing fine-art photography series with a cinematic subject matter, focusing on colour transformation and place. "From this project, a number of visual stories derive, with the primary purpose of providing pure visual pleasure. An aesthetic of colour is created, mixing both soft and pastel hues with vibrant and bolder tones, creating a paradox for our eyes and mind," says Teresa.

You can follow Teresa's work at www.teresacfreitas.com or become a fan on Instagram where you'll quickly understand why she has such a huge following.