Meet C H — N O Villatoro

 

We recently connected with C H — N O Villatoro and have shared our conversation below.

C H — N O, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

This took a long time for me. I always entered every project thinking that I wasn’t good enough for it. I kept going though, mostly because I wanted to prove myself at each gig. What I found helpful was to look thru my past work before I did a shoot. I would see the work I did and be proud and feel better going into a shoot. But, I think what helped the most were the people that I eventually surrounded myself with. People that I respect and give me good criticism in a positive way. I feel I was surrounded with people that opinions didn’t matter as much, and felt like their words and praise were not effective to me. Once I got around other artists and people who obsess over the craft, then those peoples words and thoughts made me feel better and I respected their words more and finally felt confident in the work I was doing.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a creative. I’ve always loved making stuff. Drawing as a kid, Music as a teenager and Graphic Design/Photography as an older teen. I got into photography because I saw the kids in photography class roaming the hallways and getting to go outside to take photos. And, I thought that was cool, because I hate school and I hate having to sit around and do things that aren’t fun. So once I got into that class, I was really happy with the freedom of creating and learning I thought that that’s how everything should be.
I’m really into creating passion projects. Things that come to mind as I’m driving or listening to music, I get obsessed at trying to create them. I’ll look for models/talent, pick out or steer the outfit choices. Planning the props, lighting, schedule is a tough process that I actually enjoy. That sense of progress to a fun project is energy to me.
My company, ALTVRA, was built on creating great content for companies. With the idea of pushing things further than what less creatives are doing.
Recently (this week) I have the honor of being part of a big art show in my city, state, where I’ll be displaying 4 pieces from 3 different passion projects that I have had in the past. It’s exciting to be a part of this.
Link to event: https://www.ramart.org/exhibit/wisconsin-photography-2024/

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

In this journey… the things that helped me most were getting help from others.
The people around you are so important. You have to humble yourself and know that you can’t do everything yourself. Take what you are good at and mix it with what others are good at and you get some amazing results.
Be obsessed. It’s ok to obsessed with things. It’s like when I played guitar – I would practice and practice, and I would know some bass stuff and some drum stuff even though I played guitar it was good to learn outside of that becuase in a band you have to communicate and me know those things of other instruments helped me communicate ideas to the band. So, in photography I started learning video production things and implemented some of those ideas into photo sessions. Now, I’ve been doing more video work becuase it interested me and I started learning.
You can’t be afraid to get in there and learn new things.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents moved to the States in their 30’s. I was 52 days old when I was brought to Wisconsin, USA from the beautiful Guatemala City, Guatemala.
My dad was a quiet parent, but he was ok with us playing loud music in the basement and “gave us the freedom” to go watch bands and be passionate about music and art —tho not an encourager, but more of a “yeah ok”
My mom was more against all our punk rock ambition, but still worked very hard so that we had instruments to play and computers, cameras to figure out.
Both were very patient with my obsession of learning guitar and allowing my brother and I to go play music with friends around our cities.
So that freedom of exploration led to graphic design, photography, and video producing.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Cover Photo of me on ladder by Lizz Peterson

Me filming musician by Agustin Hernandez
Me in field with camera and goat by Agustin Hernandez

Josh Schwartz for photo in Tequila Field

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