Meet Michael Larios

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Larios a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

My purpose comes from my family, as cheesy as it might sound but it is my honest answer! A lot of what I do not just in my art but in life too, all has my close family at the center of my reason and purpose of why I do the things that I do. The reason for this is because as a child, my parents separated from their marriage and I grew up in large being around my mother and my two older brothers. I would see my father only ever so often, so he was very estranged to me. I saw and heard many things as a kid that because of the separation, that only later in life I began to really appreciate family connections and family history.

It was only through finding my artistic expression through photography that I was able to really slow down and understand and appreciate the experiences that I have lived through; and those experiences are what inform me as a person going forward, and are what inspire my photographic practice. I look at photography through the purpose, or ‘lens’ of family.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My primary practice is my artistic career, focusing on showing my work in galleries across Southern California and hopefully soon nationally! My artwork generally revolves around the idea of the value of family and interconnectedness. What I mean by this is that family can be such a broad term that can be applied to just about anything that you want it to be. Whether you consider the neighbor across the street family, a shoelace, a plushie, your favorite sports team. Anything can be family as long as you feel that is so. That is why my artwork doesn’t only deal with my own close family, I branch out into other spaces that I consider to see or feel to be a part of me, a part of my family. I see them in just about any space in the world.

My other practice of course is my practice as a commercial photographer, and in fact that was my introduction to photography through the world of commercial work! Like going to special events, quinceañeras, graduation photos, tagging along with my older brother to his photo and videography gigs, the list goes on! I love to be able to capture special times for people and making sure that unforgettable moments are always commemorated to look back on. Because for me, as my family history and thus family photos are really fragmented because of my parents separation and subsequent trauma, I really place a lot of value on making sure that all that I am to photograph, is the best work that I can produce!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think that the most important skill that I value above all else is being able to adapt! Through a decade of developing my photographic practice, from starting out when my brother gifted me a Canon Rebel T5 for my birthday in 2015, to my first photoshoot, to now graduating from the Bachelors of Fine Art Photography program at California State University, Long Beach. Being able to adapt to changes in your artistic practice and techniques, and really keep an open mind when it comes to these things is what I would say has been most impactful in my journey as a commercial photographer and as a fine arts photographer as well. Just be a sponge and take in all the information that you can and apply it where it pertains and don’t be afraid of where it might take you!

I think that having a lot of persistence and tenacity, but most importantly patience, have been the most crucial skills to me as artist specifically. I can’t count the amount of times that I have been in an artistic rut or also known as an artist block where you don’t know what kind of artwork you want to make next. Being able to slow down and really brainstorm an idea, keeping in mind and remembering what makes me who I am, is what I credit to being able to get out of an artistic block. Which is why I am a firm believer in writing ideas down in a notebook and just letting your mind write what it wants to write about something. A lot of my ideas come to me in church during service, during meals, while doomscrolling, I always have my notebook handy to be able to jot down an idea very quickly to look back and expand on later. Being able to handwrite ideas is what helps me to brainstorm correctly and I strongly encourage it for anybody!

I think that having a least a little faith is always good for me when it comes to be handling the anxiousness of my practice as a photographer. Wherever you find that faith can be different, for me personally I have always been a devout Christian and knowing that Jesus Christ is always going to provide for me in aspects of my life gives me comfort to be able to focus on my practice and know that no matter what I am going to break through on anything that I set my mind to accomplish. But having a little faith in knowing that you will not fail, always gives me strength to persist on any obstacles that I come across in my photography! Just have a little self determination is the advice that I would give!

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

The most impactful thing that my parents did for me was to impart their values and most importantly, learning from their mistakes, is the things that I always follow in my life for they are what have gotten me to where I am, and I know that they will take me where I want to go. Now I know that in some peoples cases, their relationship with their parents isn’t always the best, I wouldn’t say that mine was perfect, but knowing and acknowledging that our parents are human, that they make mistakes sometimes, and to learn from the wisdom that they have, whatever kind it may be, will always be invaluable to me as a person now and in the future.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @dassquirrel.media

Image Credits

Headshot by Jesse Hernandez
@jessandezz

Artwork by Michael Larios