Today we’d like to introduce you to David Cruz.
Hi David, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been doing 35mm film analog wedding photography in Los Angeles, California on and off for a while now. Yes, some of us still use film believe it or not.
Funny enough however, most wedding photographers share a common origin story – perhaps a friend or parent handed them a camera, or they took a photography class in college as a requirement.
Not me!
I’m a photographer because in 2003, Men’s Health named the sexiest jobs of the year with photographer ranking in at number one. And that was a good enough excuse for me, I was in 10th grade at the time.
However, I took a break from the side hustle of film wedding photography around 2015 and went to East Los Angeles College fulltime to figure out what to do next after working retail my whole life at that point.
Fast forward to January of this year (2023) I came in unapologetically guns blazing with my new brand, The Drunk Wedding Photographer. With a take it or leave approach both in terms of photography style and how I run my business.
And I’m very much thankful it has worked out much better compared to my two previous attempts in such a short amount of time since launching the brand.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As mentioned this is the third time I get back into analog wedding photography. First time I quit after my divorce. But I don’t count that one as much since I was only a few months in with my brand at the time; this was in 2009.
And of course, the second time I walked away was in 2015, after jumping in around 2012 with the same brand of 2009.
My reason for throwing in the towel that second time was driven by a sense of being overworked, undervalued, and dealing with clients who often resorted to dishonesty to save a few bucks. As well as the tribal and gatekeeping culture of the wedding industry.
In between all that, I found myself moving between Palmdale, East L.A., and Downtown L.A., taking on a fair share of dead-end retail jobs – you know, the usual grind. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for these experiences because they have been valuable lessons in disguise.
I’m from Oaxaca, Mexico, and grew up in the rougher sides of both Oaxaca and Los Angeles; Echo Park in the early 90’s and South Central to be precise. And I was exposed to gang culture and what I refer to as “tribes” throughout my time in the LAUSD.
The silver lining, however, was that these early experiences helped develop a resilient THICC skin.
And when I say ‘tribes,’ I mean the punk kids, the cholos, the skater kids, the tagger crew, the athletic kids, the rich kids, the band geeks, etc. etc.
It’s amusing how I naively thought these divisions were exclusive to high school but soon realized they exist everywhere, including in the wedding industry, as I mentioned earlier.
After giving up trying to fit into the wedding industry’s mold while in college (2015-2019), I came to the realization I should go back to basics, carving my own path much like I did in high school all those years ago.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Drunk Wedding Photographer?
As a film wedding photographer, there is an inherent beauty of being able to say that I am not for everyone.
My off-the-rails but often quiet personality does not fit the fast-paced, pretentious often aggressive sales-driven wedding industry with no intent in doing so, as this industry often overlooks the beauty of simplicity.
Instead, my minimalist approach best suits couples who value the elegance of an intimate, non-traditional small wedding with a low guest count, not those who see photography as just another checkbox to mark off for their extravagant wedding planner checklist.
While many see my unconventional approach being too simplistic, as I spend my limited time at weddings creating wholesome photos of newlywed couples with their friends and family and not on overly complicated epic poses or time-consuming magazine layout details, I do not create photos to garner the attention of magazine editors or awards.
I create photos Grandma will be happy to print and proudly showcase in her home.
Because I believe that creating something by hand is an expression of knowledge and that beauty can be found in ordinary everyday mundane things, a testament to the power of human creativity.
I believe in clients writing their own vows, I believe in sharing life’s simple moments over tacos and Mezcal cocktails at wedding reception dinners. That’s who my tribe is.
Because, in the end, life is about the experiences we share and the memories we create with those around us, regardless of how insignificant they may seem to others.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I have two, and they’re not so much specific memories but aromas that spark childhood memories.
The first, from McDonald’s during breakfast hours. The scent reminds me of when my Mom would walk both my brother and I to sit down for breakfast at the one on Temple & Alvarado in what is now Historic Filipinotown.
I was six having recently moved from Mexico, it was 1993, and it was my first McDonalds.
The second scent is the unmistakable fragrance of deep-frying corn dough or masa. Igniting memories of evenings in Oaxaca with my Grandparents when we would buy deep-fried quesadillas and molotes from street vendors in 1992.
I was five and living with my Grandparents when my Mom moved to Los Angeles before coming back for both my brother and I a year later.
To this day, the scent of frying masa in the air not only sparks that fuzzy memory but also brings me back to the streets of Oaxaca when I visit my Grandparents and buy them dinner from a street vendor.
And with that, I thank you for making this far. Hopefully, I didn’t bore you to death, and should you, or know someone getting married soon, check out my socials listed below. See ya there!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thedrunkweddingphotographer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedrunkweddingphotographer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedrunkweddingphotographer
