What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
I’m an office drone who lives stuck between the office, the car, and the house—and I’d include Tijuana in that too: a small city with more than two million inhabitants. There’s no space to breathe. I’m desperate to get out into open spaces, to feel small before the depth of the horizon and lose myself in the vastness of a starry sky that the smog won’t let me see.
This year I’ll travel across the Baja California Peninsula, from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas. More than a vacation, this is the first somewhat serious project I’ve done since university. I want to photograph the desert landscape, the Sea of Cortez, the missions, the cave paintings, the luxury of Cabo, and—if I’m lucky—whales.
But mainly, I want to photograph Santa Rosalía, a town in Baja California Sur founded by the French in the late 1800s. The whole area has French architecture that contrasts with the rest of the towns across the peninsula.
What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
They say “the destination is the journey,” and I feel like the lesson from all this hasn’t arrived yet; it’s out there somewhere along the more than 3,000 kilometers of the trip. The story is still being written…
What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
Adventure and curiosity.
Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
Without a doubt, the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I identify with the main character since I work at a company that creates viral content. I won’t say the name—let’s just say that a few years ago we used to expose people’s infidelities.
In my free time, I spend hours on Maps clicking random locations to “explore.”
What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
The factors of time (I’m an overworked office drone) and money (I shoot film photography).
What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
I love Big Boy in Tijuana. I’m not sure, but I think it isn’t part of the American burger chain with the same name. It’s one of the very few authentic places that has survived gentrification in Tijuana—it still has the same décor from the 1970s. In fact, Professor Jirafales did a funny commercial for it in the ’90s—you can find it on Youtube. The place hasn’t changed at all. It’s been a while since I last went, but the last thing I ordered was the Fried Chicken Basket, although the classic choice is their burgers.
If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
This month has been emotionally tough, and I’m finally starting to realize some things I had put off dealing with out of immaturity. I’d simply call it January. Titles aren’t really my thing.
The soundtrack would be made by my homies: the nostalgic one, Grand Bantam, and the wild one, Lil Payin—just so they’ll finally start working together.
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.
Honestly, I’m a fan of my homies: Carlos Casillas and Edwin Segura. They’re two of my favorite photographers from Tijuana. Going out to shoot photos with them has helped me see street photography from a more human and honest perspective. Watching how they interact with people and naturally become part of the environment inspires me a lot—both professionally and personally.
A Tijuana native, born on December 24, 1996. A lover of capturing anything that catches his attention since childhood, when he became the photographer of the family vacations.