“I’ve always gravitated towards light, my name means light and I think there's a lot of power in names. Photography is really using light as artistic expression and it felt like the perfect medium for me to use to create.”

“Americana is what gets me the most hyped. Growing up with a family business, an automotive repair shop that my great grandfather started in the 40's, forced me to be around most of the cars we all love to shoot today.“

“I became a better editor by editing less. I’m guilty of doing what everyone else did back in the day. Crushing the blacks, raising the clarity slider too high, and making stuff super vibrant. Now with digital I try to get photos to look as natural as possible, and with film I try to accentuate what each film stock does.”

“I was 14 years old when I visited for the first time with a camera - and created my very first portfolio of images from Greece. Each year I longed to return, but economically it wasn't in the cards. It wouldn't be until I graduated college in 2016 that I would return back to my country after not having visited for 7 years. In 2017 I made the move to Chios, Greece and stayed for two years. I think this shaped a major part of who I am as a person, but also as a photographer.”

“I think music carries us everywhere in life—in the car, on overhead speakers between grocery aisles, at weddings, at funerals—it’s always sneaking up on us, even when we aren’t actively seeking it out. I think of the creative process in the same way—it’s always there, sometimes it’s just background noise.“

“When I was a little kid, I was crazy about cars. Before most kids could differentiate between red and blue, I could tell you the name of every car that passed by. My toy box? Filled with cars. Video games? All about racing. My dad loves cars too, so maybe it's something I inherited through DNA.“

“While I try to make my work cohesive, style is something that evolves over time. It emerges from the constant and consistent actions of taking and editing photos, as well as your passion for it . As you engage in this process, you naturally get drawn towards a particular direction, and you’ll find your own authenticity through that.“

“How the scene/image makes you feel is just as important as how it looks. I try to capture little scenes of serenity in the city, sometimes sadness, sometimes monotony. I think most of us have looked at a photo and felt an emotion related to it, and those are the types of images that stick with us. I want to be authentic to whatever it is I’m capturing. I don’t want to reduce it to some pretty colors. “

“There’s so many good photographers out there and with the platforms we have today, it’s so easy to share our work, so it’s no surprise that it’s common to put work out and have it go unnoticed. I feel like the work I've seen that stands out is work that’s less based on trends but seeing someone really putting their heart behind it“

“In 2020, I had my first go with medium format film and got my feet wet with a Mamiya RB67 and started to really practice making better photos. Since it was right around lockdown, a lot of iconic local businesses started shutting down and I was determined to preserve as much of the town as I could.”

“Throughout my childhood, my mom had a polaroid camera, which I still have, and my “Pops” was constantly taking and sending hundreds of photos from family gatherings and travels. Their attempts to capture memories and moments became more significant and internalized in my life, especially as I grew older.”

“I can probably list hundreds, if not thousands, of artists that I've been influenced by. My style continues to change constantly and what I like to shoot seems to change depending on my mood, so the artists who influence me most likely change on the regular as well.“

“I'm on a social media break as I type this out. I realized I was getting caught up with how many likes, features, and followers I was not getting. Which discouraged me and had me thinking my work wasn't good enough, which was all a lie. Those things don't decide if my work is good or bad.”

“I feel like growing up in Mexico City (or rather less than an hour away from it), I was immersed in a variety of architectural styles on the daily. So much that I didn’t notice nor fully appreciate it while living there. It wasn’t until I came to the US/Denver that I noticed the richness in architecture that we have in Mexico City and Mexico in general.”

“I watch a ton of movies and seeing different compositions and how they shot the scene is something I try to take away from movies then apply it to my photography. Listening to music is a big part in my creative process and influence in my shooting.”

“I love Kodak Gold, there’s this soft vintage like yellow-green gold that I’m obsessed with. As someone who has always liked gloomy dark tones for digital I wanted to completely get away from that.”

“I think there’s something inherently beautiful about film photography; the tactile experience is impossible to replicate at the computer. Although I tend to lean on digital technology for most of my paid work; it comes down to convenience and peace of mind, really.”

“Right after our son was born when I started to have a different look on photography. I was searching for a way to express myself creatively. Before that I had a blog and wrote a lot about my life in the city.”

“Many people feel they have to create some kind of narrative for their photos to be taken seriously. In my opinion, it's not my place to tell people what they should take out of my photography; that's up to them.”

“What interests me the most is connecting with people and learning about their stories through photographing them. The intimacy that is created and shared during the portrait session between me and the subject is something that I try to assure comes off in the final image itself.”