Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Perez and David Garrett.
Julia and David, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a professional photographer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have lived and worked in every corner of the world — photographing safaris in Tanzania, mosques in Turkey, temples in Hong Kong, and war-torn ruins in Southern Spain.
I am a great lover of wine and have long been fascinated with winemakers. Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to have taken photos of vineyards, wineries and winemakers all over the world.
I studied Photography at the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfic de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. For most of my career I have specialized in travel photography and my own projects focusing on street photography and examining the adaptation and resilience of cultural icons.
My husband and I are partners in a small wine project in Priorat Spain. I tend to focus on the human stories of the artists who make wine. I published a book chronicling our 2014 vintage in Spain for our friends & family a couple years ago. The reception was so positive that I started looking for similar projects in 2016.
The Winemakers of Paso Robles is my first consumer book. I am still thinking about where to go for Volume II.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Trying to organize winemakers is like trying to her cats – especially during harvest. I had to be relentless in getting many of them to give me time and access in order to get the photos I wanted for the book. I ended up taking more than 10,000 photos in 150+ locations over a 14 month period. But the real difficulty came when we had to start selecting the photos for the book. I had to drop a lot of photos I really loved to the cutting room floor. I hope they will see the light of day sometime.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Winemakers Series is a new business – our idea is to talk about wine by telling the human stories of the people that make it.
Most wine businesses talk almost exclusively about the flavors of the wine – or the nature of the terror – or even the history of a region. We think stories about people and their personal struggles and goals are more relatable.
Communicating their passion and drive I believe will lead to people having greater affinity for the wine and winemakers – and enjoy drinking the wine even more.
Very soon we will be launching a podcast series profiling winemakers as artists – and then on to the next book!
What were you like growing up?
I was a tomboy. Too skinny and too tough. From a very early age I wanted to be behind the camera, observing the world around me and capturing the beauty I saw. I’ve always had a camera in my hand – and always felt more comfortable un-noticed – out of the center of attention.
Pricing:
- The Winemakers of Paso Robles (2017) Hardcover. First Edition. $119
Contact Info:
- Website: http://wnmkrs.com
- Phone: 310-929-7401
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinemakersseries
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWinemakersSeries
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWinemakersPR
- Other: http://amzn.com/0997716029
Image Credit:
Julia Perez
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