Jose Fernandes, a long time resident of New Orleans, was born in Angola, Africa, of Portuguese parents and raised in Lisbon. He started his American journey at age 18 with a tennis scholarship to South Eastern Louisiana University. He took a short course in photography and with his 5 year old daughter as a willing model, he began to discover his eye. Fashion and its graphic imagery combined with iconic appeal were some of his early influences.

In 2005, Fernandes dedicated himself full time to photography after documenting his and his wife Cecelia's walk through 6th and 9th ward the day after Katrina. That day marked the beginning of a journey that would lead them both back to Europe and would lay the foundation for their current partnership in Eight One Eight Contemporary Photography Gallery in the heart of the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, in GoZePa the mobile gallery found in the Frenchmen Art Market, and in C+J, their fine art collaboration which focuses on opening dialogs around social conditions and challenging learned perspectives.