About
Saludos! Cheers!
I am a proud first-generation Mexican American self-taught photographer who was featured on MoMa’s Instagram page.
I attribute my cultural, social, and environmental background to the deep calling I have to document - often intimate - human experiences as a collaborator, facilitator, and observer. I specialize in black and white photography and also explore poetic uses of color. Although self-taught, my work is inspired by numerous artists including Lola Álvarez Bravo, Graciela Iturbide, Gordon Parks, Lawrence Jackson, and Vivian Maier.
I freeze and archive moments in time to preserve our legacies, for us and by us. I am deeply drawn to documenting strength, vulnerability, tenderness, and visual poetry. My favorite muse is my beautiful mama, along with my babies, husband, and family. Life is passing at warp speed and I urgently want to document it all. I live and work on Patwin Land (Davis, CA).
My why:
“I photograph to remember.” Pedro Meyer
“What does it mean to be seen? To feel seen? To see your own beauty? To see the beauty in others? To see our collective humanity?” Idriss Solomon of Black Shutter podcast
"It doesn’t make sense to call ourselves ugly…we don’t really see ourselves. We don’t watch ourselves sleeping in bed, curled up and silent, with chests rising and falling with our own rhythm…reading a book, eyes fluttering and glowing…you don’t see yourself looking at someone with care inside your heart…you would know exactly how bright and beautiful you are if you saw yourself in the moments where you are truly beautiful.”
-Unknown (via cupofjo)
P.S. Music heals. Here is my “song of the week” pick.
Portrait by Rocio Rivera; edited by me