December 2, 2016

Meet San Fernando Valley Photographer and Actor: Saúl Huezo

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Saúl Huezo.

Saúl, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story begins when my family left our home country of El Salvador at the age of eight. A bloody civil war was going on which lasted over a decade. Both my parents understood the sacrifice of coming to a new country, and the opportunity for a better life and a better education. Their encouragement to succeed motivated me to follow my dreams. Hence my love for photography as a hobby first, then becoming my passion. I’m an artist at heart, a professional actor, writer, and photographer. I’m fascinated by what the story of an image can say. How it is perceived by others and the story behind each image. I began photographing all my actor friends, and anyone who would lend themselves in my early days of shooting portraits. Finding your identity in anything you do, I believe, will be your key to your success. Though it took time, I feel my style can be seen in my work today, edgy and sexy. I’m very proud of my body of work, and yes, I still see a lot of room to improve. I believe, you have to always feel like your on the edge, so your comfort level doesn’t stop you from growing.

Has it been a smooth road?
Some of the challenges were more within myself. Once you understand the science of photography, you just have to go out and play. Shoot photos everyday, everywhere, and anytime. Sometimes we become our biggest critics if you allow insecurities to dictate who you are you will never go out and face your obstacles. Trusting your own work, promoting it, taking any criticism as a positive is key in my opinion.

Who, or what, deserves a lot of credit for where you are today?
College was an amazing time in my life. When you experience failure, you have two options. Let it drop you to the floor, or jump up and embrace it. One experience in particular that stands out for me while at school was my attempt to be part of a play at Cal State Northridge. For almost a year I auditioned and auditioned and was never cast. Finally, I realized it was due to my lack of preparation, and me not putting forth the work beforehand. So I took it upon myself to make a change, and I prepared like never before for an upcoming play of Antigone, the Greek tragedy. I wanted the lead role of Creon, so I spent an entire summer memorizing the entire role. Never had I submerged myself in doing anything like that before. Both fear and my drive to succeed were my motivation. And yes, the work did pay off, as I got the role, but more importantly I had my first taste of success. “So lesson learned Saúl”, I said to myself, “if you want to succeed in life, don’t go half speed, go all out and add a little more”. From that point forward, this has been my blueprint to anything I strive for, including both for photography and acting.

What type of clients or projects do you look forward to most?

The joy of my job is working with different personalities. I take pride in working with all actors of different stages of their careers. You always do want to work with the best, and to me, the best clients are the more interesting ones. By that I mean, those who are most comfortable in their own skin and who hold no reservations in being one hundred percent true to themselves. My ideal client is not based on fame, but more so on how genuine they can be during a shoot.

What have been some of the most important lessons you’ve learned over the course of your career?
Anyone with a magic wand can easily be tempted to go back and start over again. One of my early challenges was making my subjects feel comfortable. Some people are more relaxed in front of a camera more so than others. Having music in the background or asking them to bring a girlfriend or boyfriend to a set, in order to make them feel comfortable wasn’t enough at times. I wanted my clients to feel more comfortable with me, and not so much with the space I was trying to create. I realized, I myself needed to be transparent, to laugh at myself, be spontaneous, be everything I asked of them in order to gain their trust. Trial and error, that’s life in my opinion. All the accolades and fail attempts go hand in hand, that’s the beauty of life.

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