Daily Inspiration: Meet Chris Torres

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Torres.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started with photography and journalism while I was in my second year of college. I attended the University of Hawai’i straight out of high school and majored in Kinesiology at the time which was 2017. I left the university to go back home to SoCal after I had a lackluster academic year in Hawaii. So I dropped out and went to community college where I began to explore other career options outside of the medical field. It was at Los Angeles Pierce College where I enrolled in my first journalism class. I was also beginning to learn photography at the time as well and once I learned that the two intersect, I knew right then and there that I wanted to try and pursue photojournalism as a career.

At Pierce College, I started as a staff reporter and photographer for the RoundUp News student publication at Pierce in 2017. By the time I graduated with my AA in 2019, I became the photo editor and Editor in Chief of the paper and also photographed for their magazine, the Bull Magazine. I then transferred to Cal State Northridge where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism specializing in photojournalism and documentary photography in 2022. It was at Cal State Northridge where I photographed for their student publication, The Daily Sundial. I documented the Black Lives Matter protests across Los Angeles and other newsworthy events for the Sundial before becoming the photo editor and eventually the Editor in Chief.

After I finished at Northridge, I started my job at the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, which is the leading news publication in Santa Clarita. I photograph multiple things from breaking news to sports to features/portraits and events. I am about to reach one year photographing for the Signal and I love how I am able to do what I love while also informing/helping a large community of people here in Santa Clarita. I’ve had some amazing opportunities through this career such as meeting multiple celebrities, athletes, and public figures along the way. I plan on continuing to grow my portfolio and find amazing opportunities to grow in this emerging and creative industry!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been smooth to say the least. While I was in high school, I always had this mindset that I was going to go into the medical field despite never doing well in science and math class. I took that same mindset with me to the University of Hawai’i where those same classes became even harder and by the time I dropped out, I had a cumulative GPA of 1.8. It was embarrassing to come home to my parents and tell them how much I messed up while away from home. My parents were paying thousands of dollars for my education, yet I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. So far, that period was one of the lowest of my life. I had no idea what I could pursue, but I told myself that I have to be someone that my parents could look at and be proud of. So I began to try a bunch of things until I found something I liked and could pursue as a career. Throughout my career, I have seen many photojournalists flourish, but I have also seen many of them crash and burn. There is a high standard of photography in this field and a lot of photojournalists leave because of the competition. Everyone has to try and stand out and it takes a toll on you. There’s plenty of struggles I have went through because of the job, but I always treat uncomfortable situations and mistakes as ways I could continue to learn and grow in this industry.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I currently work as a photojournalist for the Santa Clarita Valley Signal news publication. I photograph newsworthy incidents like brush fires, bad car accidents, etc, along with sports, portraits, features and community events. My goal has always been to be the most well-rounded photographer I can be so I can be placed in any situation and come out with some high-quality work I can be proud of. With that being said, my favorite things to photograph are sports games and portraits. I have always gravitated toward sports because I grew up playing many sports. Now that I am older, I know I can’t play sports at a high level, but being able to photograph games puts me into that same environment and gives me a thrill. I learned photography and lighting through portraiture and I still very much enjoy meeting new people, hearing their story and photographing them in a way that resembles who they are. I have won some awards for my work while in college including being a national award winner for my sports photography documenting the struggles of the Cal State Northridge soccer program by the Society of Professional Journalists. The awards serve as reassurance that I am in the right career, but what I am most proud of is being a service to the community. I get to inform communities about events and issues that impact them. This job allows me to visually tell someone’s story that nobody would have known if it weren’t for me. That is what truly fulfills me and sets me apart from other photographers. While others just want to take a nice photo, I look to see how the story can dictate the way I photograph.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
When I was growing up, I was the youngest of my class because I skipped kindergarten. So ever since I was in first grade, I have been a year younger than everyone else. It may not seem like a huge gap, but I always felt like the outsider because I could tell my maturity level never matched with my peers. With that being said, I started off as super shy and I grew up not having many friends, but I had a select few I could go to most of the time. As I got older, I really spent much of my childhood trying to fit in and ultimately be accepted, but overall it was definitely a struggle. In middle and high school, I would try to force myself into the popular kid’s groups and went to extensive measures just to “look cool” and act like them. Once I got to college, I realized all that effort to be liked by everyone was useless and that I shouldn’t feel ashamed to be who I am wholeheartedly. My interests would vary, but I was always interested in sports. I would watch the Lakers, Dodgers, and Patriots with my family every week. If I were still a kid, I would have never thought I’d be where I currently am, but I would be proud of myself for pursuing something I am passionate about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://christorresphoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris.t.torres/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/chris_t_torres