I was born in Mexico City and proudly raised in South Bay LA. I’ve always had a camera with me part family tradition, part instinct to hold onto moments before they disappear. But I never took photography seriously. Most of my photos didn’t survive anyway memory cards got lost, computers crashed from downloading music off sketchy sites, and whole parts of my life just disappeared.
During the pandemic, I finally bought a real camera a Canon EOS M50 using some of the money I got from grad school. I was going through a rough depression at the time, and photography became a kind of therapy. It helped me slow down, be present, and take my mind off everything I was dealing with.
When things started opening back up, I started bringing my camera to Low Rider cruises. The first one I documented was the Compton Unity Cruise. My portraits weren’t great and I was nervous, but I had a good time. I kept going to more cruises, kept shooting, and eventually met people who became important mentors to me, like Jose Alvarado and Paulo Freire Lopez. They helped me shape my style and gain confidence in my work.
One moment I always hold onto happened on 15th Street during a cruise hosted by Dangerust LA Cruise Nights. Alvarado told me, “Shoot for you, because you love it. No one cares if you’re here. Don’t be nervous, and don’t worry about what people think.” That stuck with me. He even gave me an assignment that night: take 10 portraits before leaving. To this day, I don’t put my camera away until I’ve taken at least ten shots, I’m proud of.
Since then, I haven’t been able to stop shooting. I slowly drifted into portrait work at punk and goth shows, scenes I grew up around. As a teenager in Lawndale, I used to take buses all over LA just to find new bands at backyard gigs. I never documented any of it, and those memories live only in my head.
That’s why now I document everything from Poesía Sobre Ruedas at the Low Rider Cruises to the dark, surreal goth nights in LA. I want to make sure nothing slips away again.
Related
