What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
I’ve always been very interested in artisanal techniques and the importance of keeping them alive through generational knowledge. That’s why I spent a few weeks in Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí visiting some mezcal distilleries, and I was fortunate enough to photograph the master mezcaleros throughout their entire process.
What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
I learned that everything has its own time. Master mezcaleros don’t measure time with a clock, but with the wisdom that nature has given them. It shouldn’t be rushed or delayed; it happens when it’s meant to.
What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
The idea that hundreds of years ago, someone curious started experimenting with fermentations, and many years later, that experiment was refined until it reached our palate.
Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
Popocatépetl, by Liliana Felipe and Jesusa, was a song a friend played during the car ride, and it led to a moment of uncontrollable laughter — of course, thanks to the mezcal.
What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
Adapting to new visual narratives. The cinematic universe has many tools to convey emotions and ideas, many of which are hard to express in a single photograph. These limitations can make the creative process challenging; however, they also represent a chance to be inventive, to use these constraints creatively to portray the person or situation in front of me in a deeper way.
What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
El Habanero Negro, in Guadalajara. Start with a chejuino (an ancestral drink made from fermented corn mixed with beer). Once you’ve calmed your hunger a bit, order a Lyn Mei taco and a platanucho. You’ll be overjoyed.
If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
When I was a squid, with experimental music by Aphex Twin.
Recommend one or more artists you follow who inspire you, and tell us what you like most about their work or their way of working.
Robin Schwartz: I admire her delicacy in portraying the connection and love that can exist between humans and animals.
Rodney Smith: For creating surreal universes in a very minimalist and elegant way, limiting himself to monochromatic imagery.
Documentary cinematographer and photographer born in Guadalajara. I manage the José Hernández-Claire Photographic Archive alongside my sister Úrsula and Sergio Garibay. I really enjoy camping and observing nature at different times of the day. Co-founder of Penumbra, a darkroom open to the public so people can experience the magic of what happens inside.