Rising Stars: Meet Hector Mendoza of Los Angeles, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hector Mendoza

Hi Hector, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I picked up interest in photography during my time as an intern for How To Be Social (a creative agency) in Dallas back in 2019 during my Bachelor’s degree at the University of North Texas since the entire team encouraged everyone to expand their horizons and try new creative endeavors. My roommate and friend let me borrow his Canon Rebel and lenses and let me run free with it and I immediately fell in love with the craft and learned proper photo etiquette and basic editing as things progressed. Fast forward to 2021 and I moved back to California to get my MBA at Chapman University and I was in a completely different environment and had a hard reset on my life as I now had new goals and new opportunities to chase. However, I was strongly missing my time as a creative and as a photographer and soon enough my grandparents gifted me their old Olympus Stylus 35mm camera as they were about to throw it out, this introduction to film photography and overall reintroduction to photography lit up a powerful flame inside of me as I ran wild with it and took it everywhere. Come 2022 and I bought myself a Canon 6D with my own set of lenses and decided to take things more seriously especially since my MBA gave me the tools and skills I needed to learn how to set myself up as a business. While I started off as a concert photographer due to my love for music and live performances, I’ve since then got a grasp on fashion, portrait, event, and engagement photography and I’m still learning new types and am constantly evolving my style. While concerts remain my focus, my ability to broaden my horizons has led me to exploring new places and meeting so many amazing people all while trying to capture the moment.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like everything in life, nothing good has ever come easy. Juggling school and photography has always been a difficult road and as I transitioned over to an office job, time management has become crucial to manage both aspects of my professions without needing to make any sacrifices. My calendar and caffeine have become my saving grace in that aspect as I’m able to map out my month and find what times work best with everything to help ensure a steady workflow. I also have to mention that the support of my friends and family have also been crucial to be able to juggle with everything as their love and support for this endeavor is what helps me wake up in the morning and tackle down a day that at times can be 14 hours long.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a photographer who specializes in concert photography. I go around the music scene in the valley, LA, and Orange County and work with artists both up and coming and established and help immortalize their sets. My style relies on haziness and an overall dreamlike style while also trying to gather as much energy as possible, the shoegaze genre of music and the cinema of David Lynch and Gregg Araki are massive inspirations for me. One of my proudest moments so far was being able to capture the final show held at The Warehouse in Orange, CA as I and a lot of the artist I’ve grown to have a great relationship with got our start there and to be able to document some of the final sets in that venue was a privilege and an honor and definitely a memory that I will always treasure! What sets me apart from others is that I’m in a state of constant evolution and I’m always trying to branch out and try different styles of photography. Complacency is my biggest fear and I’m always trying to test out new angles, editing techniques, and just anything else to help refine my style and image and although I have had a handful of times where experimentation didn’t work, I don’t let that stop me in my continued desire to evolve.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’m very thankful to have a ton of people who come to mind when giving them credit on my journey as a photographer. The very obvious start are my parents and my brother who have loved and supported me unconditionally, they’ve never once ever made me doubt my capabilities as an artist and I strive to make them proud as I get older. I want to thank my friend Pedro for lending me his camera all those years ago and helping me start my journey. I also want to thank my friends Henry, Kat, Jimmy, Joey, David, Megan, Lili, and Ariana for always supporting me and being so willing to check out my stuff and critique it before sending it anywhere. I’d like to thank The Collective at Chapman University for giving me my start in shooting local shows and performances when I got my camera and my favorite collaborators such as Simya and Jackson Geffen come from there, as well as the publication Musik Mirage for having me on board as a contributor which played a significant role at honing my skills as well as being able to photograph big name artists like Pinkpantheress, Interpol, and Caifanes. My extended family from both sides are also a huge support for me and I have to give them a shout out because I have such a large family who consistently has shown me love and affection and make me feel like the luckiest person alive. Lastly, I want to thank anyone who has even bothered to see what I have to say by checking out my Instagram or portfolio or just saying hey at a gig it truly means the world to me!

Pricing:

• 150 per hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mendozaphotos.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mendoza__photos/