Hi, I’m Adriana.
Photography has been part of my life for a long time. I got my first camera in middle school, and I took it everywhere. I photographed my friends, my school, and pretty much anything I thought was worth remembering. Looking back, I think I was drawn to the documentary side of photography before I even had a word for it.
For years, though, I didn’t think of myself as a particularly creative person. I loved photography, but I was intimidated by the idea of actually taking a photography class. I wondered if I was creative enough. Eventually, I signed up and loved it!
I loved learning something completely new and figuring out how light, composition, and camera settings could change a photograph. But I think what I loved most was realizing that creativity wasn't something you either had or didn't have. It was something you could practice, develop, and have fun with.
That experience led me to want to teach photography to beginners. I had a squarespace blog and website in Spanish called Aprende Fotografía where I taught how to use DSLR cameras. I remember how intimidating it was to start, so I make an effort to explain things in a friendly, simple way so photography feels accessible rather than overwhelming. I loved helping someone think, “Maybe I can do this.”
Photography as a way of seeing
I don't think of myself as someone who needs to photograph everything. When I travel, I want to experience the place. If I'm traveling with other people, I want to be present with them and enjoy the experience together. Sometimes the camera stays in the bag.
But there is something special about setting aside some time to walk around with my camera in hand. It changes the way I experience a place. I slow down. I notice the light, the architecture, the people, the little details I might otherwise walk right past. Photography gives me a reason to really look.
That's what I love about documenting places. I'm not trying to capture every moment. I'm looking for the moments that make me stop and pay attention.
Photography as a way of remembering
My interest in photography has also grown into a fascination with family history and ancestry.
I have old photographs from my family, and I love seeing the people I know in a completely different context. One of the most special photographs I have is of my dad as a child with his parents in Xochimilco. I had never seen a photograph of my dad as a kid before. Seeing him there, long before I knew him as my dad, felt like discovering a little piece of his story that I didn't know existed.
I think we only get to know our parents and grandparents in the context of the lives we share with them. Photographs give us glimpses into the other parts of their lives. I love seeing them when they were young, imagining who they were, what they were doing, and what their lives might have felt like before I knew them.
That curiosity often leads me further down the rabbit hole. Most of my family is from Mexico, and I have always been drawn to Mexican history. When I find an old photograph or learn something about an ancestor, I want to know more. What was happening in Mexico at that time? Where did they live? Where did they move from and why? What did that place look like? I love finding the locations on a map and connecting the personal story to the larger history happening around it.
To me, we are all products of the people and places that came before us. Photography and ancestry give me a way to explore those connections.
