Misery has no patience

What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
The most recent commercial work I've done is still photography on film for the fashion brand Jenny Polanco, for the opening of their new store in Wynwood Miami.

Photos for Nicole Cochón, jewelry designers, in the truly beautiful locations of Baní and Palmar de Ocoa in the Dominican Republic. These photos are accompanied by a visualizer shot on 35mm film, where I also served as second camera assistant.

I wrote, co-directed, and shot a film for Lena Dardelet, a Franco-Dominican artist who lives on the island's coast in Cabarete, a municipality in the province of Puerto Plata. We managed to do some interesting things with virtually no budget.

What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
As a creative director working in the advertising industry, we're always complaining about time, the deadlines clients set, and the demands brands place on us to stay current with the commercial calendar. Analog photography gave me the pause I needed to further develop my observational skills. But once I'm working for a brand or artist, time becomes a challenge again. You have to make peace with that, go with the flow, believe, and create.

Instinct is a power we have to develop; it's trained and cultivated. So I have a lot of faith in myself, in what I feel, and in what comes naturally to me when I'm taking a photograph. In the case of the project with Nicole Cochon, I realized afterward that I was in the sea wearing inappropriate clothing, with my camera and the water almost up to my neck, trying to capture an image that I had envisioned in my mind before taking it. 

What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
Lately, I've been feeling nostalgic, a constant, underlying emotion. I used to think it was a bad thing, but with time I've come to understand that it's not entirely wrong. I love remembering the past, my friends from design school and those years. My grandparents, my childhood, and of course, I always try to focus on the sweetest parts of it all.

Believe and create are words that have been on my mind lately because sometimes we think a lot and do very little, so it's like a motivational mantra for me. As for an idea that I can't quite explain, I'll stick with this: misery has no patience.

Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
The movie C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix, carries a wealth of important information that I identify with and that validates me in many ways: empathy, honest conversations, the strangeness of the future. Music is very present in my life; it influences me every day at work and in my daily life: Sampha, Vicente Garcia, Drexler, Facundo Cabral's monologues.

What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
The industry's daily pressure to create the most original idea in the world is exhausting. I feel the drain that comes from constantly demanding so much of my creative self without having the energy to push myself enough to train my creative muscle. That's why I'm focusing more on working in the darkroom, making copies by hand.

What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
It's difficult for me to choose a favorite restaurant, but if I had to choose one it would be The Hearty Hub, a café near my house where I think you can choose anything and it will be WOW. Outside the country, I was impressed by La Pecora Bianca in New York.

If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
Until that day. I would leave that responsibility to Sampha, Drexler, or James Horner.

Which studios, laboratories, or workshops have you collaborated with recently or would you like to collaborate with in the future?
I would definitely like to do something with Nice Film Club a laboratory in the US, I think they do a great job, you can see the commitment and professionalism in everything they do.

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.
Sulión Sang has a very particular way of observing; he's special. I knew it a long time ago. Then he moved from the Dominican Republic to Frankfurt, and now European magazines and film manufacturers are realizing that he's top-notch. He always has been; it's just that now he has the visibility he should have had all along.

Maurice Sanchez is responsible with his art, I like his process, his humor, he doesn't jump on trends if he doesn't really feel it and I can see it that way when I see his work and his career.