Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Orozco.
Monica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It took me a while to figure out what was my calling in life. Thankfully, I found it by the age of 28. It all started with me wanting to be like my friend Jeff, who was a Graphic designer. He was doing work that was creative, made great money and worked from home, all very appealing to me. I took a graphic design class at Los Angeles Valley College. It was mandatory to use a manual film camera. While I sucked at graphic design I fell in love at looking at the world through the camera’s viewfinder. It was the first time that I wanted to learn more about something. I love to create and document, play with themes and shapes, so, this medium delivered on it all. But, as in most creative fields, you have to be persistent and trust that it’s going to work out.
Also, sometimes as an artist, it takes time to realize what you are trying to express and for me, it took years to find a distinct voice. I started with a simple Photo a Day challenge in 2012 in order to jumpstart my self-portrait project, and since then, I have expressed myself via my photography every day. Follow me, and hopefully, I can make you both wonder and giggle @demonicaphoto.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I was working full time when I started photography and living in the deep valley, commuting to Santa Monica every day, pre GPS. I remember feeling extreme emotional turmoil, as both my parents died during that time, and so that two-year program took more like five years to finish.
Once I moved forward, I assisted the photographer Matthew Rolston. I got to work on some huge advertising and celebrity shoots but soon got disillusioned. I didn’t think I had the “diva’ personality to succeed in that world. I then started working as a photographer for Boeing. I was there for almost 13 years. It was a steady gig but also soul-crushing because it wasn’t creative at all. Once I got out of there, I was able to pursue more personal and creative projects.
One of the things that I hate is seeing so many talented artists work for free or less than what they are worth. This creates a backlash in the industry; you have people working for no money and essentially creating a system where clients don’t want to pay for the value of a photographer’s work. It seems to be getting worse nowadays.
Part of being a freelancer is about selling yourself to others, and I never felt as if I was much of a hustler in that sense, so the idea that I may not be pursuing my career to its full potential due to this, is hard to face. Although I am a very social person that loves to be around others, there was something inauthentic to me about networking, and it is still very hard for me to do. But I have learned that persistence is key.
Persistence and a passion for what you love. You have to keep endeavoring to stay on top of the game. It’s an investment of time and money.
deMonica Photo and Monica Orozco Photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am known for being that photographer that makes an event stand out by capturing moments that elevate the occasion. I’ve heard I make people feel really comfortable around me, which is to me so important, in order to truly portray the layers of emotion in portraiture.I am constantly inspired by what is around me. I love to shoot both in vivid color and black and white. I am a portrait photographer who also specializes in documentary photography. That website will be launching soon www.
I’m also a fine art photographer that shoots quirky self-portraits www.
Some of the major themes include the rights of the LTGBQ community to live freely in contemporary American society, the changing landscape of Los Angeles and the impact of that evolution on all of us living here, and of course, women: identity, equality, sexuality, political status and power, ageism, and the unrealistic expectations of contemporary society. I want to be a voice of my generation.
What were you like growing up?
I think a running theme for me, that quite clearly colors some of my work, is my lifelong struggle with identity. Life seemed grand in our home in Pacoima, up until our dad moved the whole family back to his Mexican hometown, Leon, Guanajuato.
There at the age of ten, as a female, I experienced for the first time the dehumanization of being considered a 2nd class citizen. This experience has shaped my whole life. I moved back to LA at 16, and never felt as though I fit in. I may have been doing all I could to assimilate, but in my mind, I never did. In my 20’s, life took a turn because I started to discover so much of what L.A had to offer.
My environment shaped me. I really owe my city for educating me with its visual stimulation; the clubs, the music, the fashion, dancing and dressing up, and connected with others. I became friends with artists and that’s when I finally felt that I had found myself and my tribe. Art exhibits then became a huge passion of mine, something I love shooting to this day.
There are specific artists that I relate to, that impacted my creative work. I’ve always loved classic photography as well as the more stylized, outrageous imagery like; David La Chapelle, Miles Aldridge, Ellen von Unwerth. I am also very inspired by the documentary photographers; Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Martin Parr, etc.
Really, my environment has been a huge inspiration for me, my city and the life within its corners, from the everyday average person to the people living in the subcultures of a hyper-realistic world. I try to do as much as I can in L.A., the city offers so much inspiration and so many interesting people and places to document. I could get lost for hours researching photos for ideas that will create vivid, dynamic work that ignites something in others.As I am getting older, my city is changing, and it feels like there is a constant state of birth, growth, change, and even passing. Signs and sites that are part of our history are going away, and the shifting environment compels me to document the city with an urgency that I also feel personally building in my life. But it excites me.
I feel I am on the cusp of the next big thing, whatever that is!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.demonicaphoto.com www.monicaorozcophotography.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: demonicaphoto and MonicaOrozcophotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monica.orozco.33865
- Twitter: demonicaphoto
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
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