Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Manrique.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Bryan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The story started when I was younger. My older brother had just purchased an expensive professional camera. No matter what, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. Eventually, I snuck it out and started taking pictures of my friends and of anything that had caught my eye. I fell in love with it instantly… No one has ever really taken good pictures of me so I figured, why not be the one to take good pictures of everyone else. In time I started seeing my friends post the pictures I took of them. The photos received so much love from everyone that I knew I wanted to do more with it. Eventually, I was introduced to film by my close friend Matthew Marzo. Practically the next day I bought a cheap film camera and started my new journey. The process with film made it so much harder for me to conserve and shoot the right shot.
With only 36 or 24 shots in a roll, I had to be picky with what I shot. Sooner or later with practice, I started being precise with my shots and only executing “the best shots”. The best part about shooting film is the wait to see how the photos turned out because film cameras don’t have a memory card or a led screen on it to see how the pictures came out. To see for yourself how the photo actually came out, you have to wait a couple of days to get them back from the lab. I fell in love with the process, the wait, the results, the mistakes and the successes. Through going on shoots with people that wanted me to take photos of them, I met so many wonderful amazing people. They never forgot about me and linked me with other amazing people that liked my vision and art. Now I’m expanding my vision and collaborating with so many amazing artists that I’m glad to have met along the way. I’m excited to see what the future holds not only for me but for everyone around me.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been smooth enough but very tiring. Film is very expensive from having to buy the roll to having to pay for the processing and scanning. But thats the process and I love it.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kruleboi’s – what should we know?
My business is a photography/videography business, but not just any photography/videography business. Everything is shot on film and not digital. From 35mm to 120mm to super 8mm film. I’m always behind the camera and set. I find an amazing location and/or set to shoot at and set up the lighting as well. I’m known for my insane colors in my photography and how they stick out so much. I’m most proud of all the amazing people I get to work with and share/create the vision together.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
So many people deserve credit and Im so grateful for all of them.
Matthew Marzo for inspiring me to shoot film, actually taking the time to teach me the basics and sharing some of his heavenly vision with me.
Kyle Emerson Brown for taking me into his family and introducing me to so many amazing people. For being my mentor and always supporting me in anything I do.
Ziad Shalabi, Adrian de la Rosa and Tommy The Roach for always supporting and being some of the first people I would go out and shoot with on a daily for our projects.
Patrick Zappia for always ALWAYS showing love, being a mentor, client, teammate and of course friend.
Justino Pescador for taking me in and allowing me to be apart of Dragboyz. Justin always pushes me, supports me and is always an amazing friend and teammate. Our vision is always eye to eye and we work perfectly together.
Everyone around me that has impacted my life in any way big or small has helped me get here.
And finally my Family for always showing love on not knowing what I do but supporting it every step of the way.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: kruleboi2001
Image Credit:
Bryan Manrique (@kruleboi2001), Johnny Liu (@johnnyhomemovies) & Matthew Marzo (@matthewmarzo)
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