Meet Jose Luis

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jose Luis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jose below.

Hi Jose , so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I think the best way to describe my success is not focusing on the financial end but on the accomplishments of your goals. The satisfaction of your clients. I feel one of the biggest ways to recognize my success is just being accepted in magazines no matter how small or big they are. Though, I do have dreams and goals to be in the larger scale magazines. I still strive to be successful, well more than what I am now. I keep striving for success and when i get to that marker of success, I will make the next marker for success.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My story starts in Brasil, from my birth. Ive learned in the last few years about the story of my travels, maybe at this time I’m still not ready to be fully open about the situation but I think the most important part of my creativity started then. I ended up in an orphanage, the amount od time in the orphanage is unknown but at the age of five and half, I was adopted. I grew up in America with two amazing “white” parents, which had some tribulations along the way. My father was in the Air Force and we traveled to a few places. I grew up facing adversity with being of a different race. I grew up not letting these differences keep me down, I was always creative and open minded about this world. What first lifted me into the arts was when I worked on a piece for my 6th grade art class. I mad e a drawing that won with a few other classmates, I found out that I won money that was donated to a charity organization. I fell more in love with the arts. IN my freshman year of school, I was in photography class. I was told at the time when i got an F in the class that my teacher told me to find something else. I never though much of it after that.

We later moved outside of St. Louis, MO. area where I went to high school. I took honors art and college level writing communications classes. At the age of 17 I knew what I wanted to do and that was join the Army.

I went to the Army recruiter a few weeks prior to my 18th birthday and signed up. During my senior year I knew I was going into the Army and was excited for it. I left two weeks after graduating. Left to Ft Sill Oklahoma. After basic training my dad came down from St Louis and we went to the mall. We walked around and I got suckered into buying something I wasn’t sure I wanted but felt I could want it later, it was a film Ricoh 35mm camera. I had no training nor desire to really learn it. I just started taking pictures. The photos weren’t good at the time but I loved the challenge.

The one time i printed some photos of these ducks i took pictures of at the local lake near my base in Germany. I had got three photos printed and had them in my room. One of my soldiers came in asking me about my duck photos. He then asked about buying them. I never knew about the details of selling photos. I sold him the three photos for $10 each. I then realized I became a professional photographer.

I grew to loving this art of photography, I’ve photographed a lot of my travels, and the people I have met in my life. I slowly worked my way into night club events, local musicians, and bigger events. I have enjoyed the journey as it opened doors for me in the entertainment world.

I settled in Seattle, Washington for about 12 years. I learned living there about myself, about the music industry and more on photography. I worked as the Entertainment Director for Seattle Fashion Week and loved it. After working with a few artists, and traveling to LA, NY and ATL. I had a hard time accumulating clients. I also got laid off my a main job working as a technician.

I began putting my technical resume together and soon after putting it up I received a phone call from Intel in Arizona. I decided to accept and change course in my life. I moved to the Phoenix area and focused on getting back on my feet.

Once moving to Phoenix, I tried to connect to a few local event creators and photographers. I don’t think I was as motivated at the time. A few years into my move a friend of mine contacted me to come to Vegas to do some photoshoots. I went to Vegas and had a few photos in my first magazine that my friend had started. I started getting more requests for photoshoots.

After establishing myself in Phoenix, building and breaking relationships by 2017 I decided to start working on myself. I started looking into visiting Brasil, finding more about my culture and maybe even my family. On my 40th birthday I decided to take the plunge and go to Brasil. After communicating with these ladies that have helped at an orphanage that my adoption agent started and helped adopted over 1000 children into homes outside of Brasil.

Going to Brasil was life changing. I have been going to help the orphanage, friends and now with my family that I was connected with three years into my visits. I finally was able to meet my mother, the momentous and emotional moment inspired me to keep going, to be more creative, to be grateful for where I have been, where I am at and where am about to go.

Photography has been a key to many gateways and paths of my life. I have used it to connect with so many people. When i show the results people are struck and it moves me. I want to tell stories with my art with my vision. I love putting my vision out but letting people be free to collect their own view of what was captured. We see life in different windows, with different angles and perceptions.

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

I think one of the qualities that I felt I have always had was understanding people, the way to interact with them. I think to understand people is a special gift, it helps for me to determine my path in which way that i would rather go.

A skill I have being learning is being more active to learn Photoshop and trying my best to use Lightroom. It’s been a challenge for me but with the updates for AI use I have used a smaller portion of it and have forced myself to learn how it is done without AI.

One of the areas of knowledge i have been focusing on is mens mental health. As I served in the US Army and got out 13 years later I started to recognize the signs of self abuse, mental abuse and mental hardships. I wanted to find a way for even myself to communicate those issues and I felt it had to start with myself. So what was the best way, it would be through photography. Still in the creating process and figuring out how to put it all together I have decided to collect some photos. I wont tell the details of the project but I think it is very impactful. The men I have connected with are very inspired by this project.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

For me, one of the biggest challenges is myself. My self doubts, my own imperfections and the way I want things to work out. I think we try so hard to be good at what we want and even love. When we put it out we want to reel it back in knowing its a bit late. For example when I have slight doubts on putting out some of my work and then I have likes and comments and get good feedback on it. I sometimes don’t see it. I just want to reel it back in. I don’t feel its the confidence in what we do as artist as to just noticing the last minute imperfections. I have been learning to accept things more and noticing its my style more and more coming out.

We are faced with some many diverse challenges in this life, I feel it is best to look at the challenge and mentally find a better outcome. Finding solution to a problem with a possible chance of it not working is always better than not attempting to fail because when you fail the next step(s) are closer to succeeding.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Zoe Bittner
Gette Moore
Astrid Itrube & Gary House
Savanna Kapetanovic
Rosita Delgado
Daniella Summers
Myami Lawson
Astrid Itrube

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