Transcript

Amanda Lopez  0:00

“Photography, for me is a really healing practice. It’s helped me come into my own, it helps me process emotions that I cannot verbalize. It helps me meditate. For me, photography is like a meditative practice. Like when I am taking a photo, when I’m in a photo session is the most focused, the most connected I am to myself.”

Mónika Welcome to Our Latina Lens Podcast where we elevate the work and stories of Latina and Latine photographers in the U.S. I am your host, Monika and this podcast is part of our wider Our Latina Lens community.

I am excited to share this conversation that Amanda Lopez and I recorded several months ago. Amanda is an editorial and commercial portrait photographer based in Los Angeles. She specializes in portraiture and has a rich practice of creating personal projects. She is a skilled photographer and a deeply reflective and generous person. Her love for her craft, family and community are so clear in this conversation and in her work. I hope that you gain as much insight and inspiration as I did.

All artists and entrepreneurs Amanda references are linked in the show notes in your podcast player and on our website at ourlatinalens.com, where you can also sign up for our newsletter.

Mónika  02:41 Today we’re talking to Amanda Lopez. I am super excited for this conversation. Discovering Amanda’s work was just such a balm. When I started looking for Latina photographers her work is beautiful, and her story is amazing. So I just want to welcome you, Amanda bienvenida.

Amanda Lopez  03:00 Oh, thank you so much, Monika, it’s so great to be here with you.

Mónika  03:03 I have heard that your mother was very encouraging of your artistic inclinations. Your father gave you your first camera? What did that foundation mean to you? And how did it allow you to get to where you are today in photography?

Amanda Lopez  03:17 I grew up in first and second generation home. My mom was born in the US, but her parents were both born in Mexico. My dad was born in Mexico. So I’m, you know, first and second generation. And I think my mom, she had a pretty strict upbringing. She was like the oldest of seven kids. And she had to take care of her brothers and sisters and be kind of a second mom to some of her siblings. And I think she had a lot of restriction in her life. And I think when she had kids, she was like, No, I’m not going to do that to them. I want them to be able to do whatever they want. I want to encourage them to do whatever they want, and pursue their dreams because she had aspirations and things that she wanted to do, but wasn’t encouraged by her family in the way that maybe she needed to be, you know, and so with her kids, I have a sister and a brother. I’m lucky, she was just encouraging. You know, there’s no artists in my family, there’s no one who I could turn to to ask for help, you know, including my parents, but my mom was like, I’m gonna support you, that’s at least what I can do for you is I can support you. And my dad, you know, in high school, I took a photo class and I think he started to see that I was interested in photography. And so he gave me his old camera. And that really changed everything for me. Like I think my dad, he didn’t understand my what it meant to be an artist like to pursue that journey. And so even though he didn’t understand, he supported me in his own way by giving me his camera and that really, once I got that camera, it really changed things for me and I still have it I still use it from time to time.

Mónika  05:01 And tell us a little bit about how your journey led to the genres that you engage in today. What kind of photography do you do? And how did how have you gotten to where you are today?

Amanda Lopez  05:12 I am a portrait editorial commercial photographer. And even within those lanes of like, you know, commercial advertising work, it’s always, I would say, 90% portrait based. And I discovered kind of quickly that I really like working with people to make portraits. You know, when you begin a photo journey, there’s so many avenues you can take it food photography, there’s product photography, there’s wedding, there’s aerial, there’s architecture, there’s commercial, there’s so many different ways that you can take it. And in the beginning, I tried a few different things. You know, I took a photo journalism class, and though I love photo journalism, I kind of figured out right away that wasn’t my lane. With photojournalism, you’re kind of capturing things as they happen. But with portraiture, you get time to connect with people, you get time to craft a photo, and I just kind of go into the process of elimination, trying to figure out what I liked. Photography, or portraiture, I should say, felt so natural, and just really good. And I was like, Ah, this is it. This is what I want to do with my photography.

Mónika  06:24 How do you identify our title’s Our Latina Lens, but I know that that’s not a title that fits everyone.

Amanda Lopez  06:31 I identify as Latina, I identify as Chicana, I identify as Mexican American. And, you know, I also identify a role that I’m really excited to have now is one of an aunt. My sister recently had a baby. And so now I’m a tia, and that’s really exciting for me, you know,

Mónika  06:49 Felicidades!

Amanda Lopez  06:50 So yeah, thank you. It’s so fun. My twin sister had a baby girl. And she’s two now. And it’s just been so fun to step into that role and identity. And so that’s the one I’m most pumped on right now.

Mónika  07:04 So fun to was so fun, especially when you’re at the tia.

Amanda Lopez  07:08 Oh my gosh, it’s the best. She’s the best. I’m I’m obsessed with this little child, it’s so amazing to see her grow. And to see my sister being a mom, oh my god, it’s just amazing. So it’s a blessing,

Mónika  07:21 How have your identities affected your creative journey or photographic journey?

Amanda Lopez  07:26 I think on top of the other titles that I say identify, as you know, I also identify as a woman, and I think just being a woman in kind of this creative space, you know, whether it’s in the editorial world, or like the fine art world, you know, like, the numbers aren’t great when it comes to for example, you know, museums, their collections are like 80% men, 80% White men, I just read this statistic that said that, like 70 to 80% of like, people who graduate from photo school are women, yet only 15% are like professional photographers, you know, I think there’s like, a lot of these like,

Mónika  08:07 Wow.

Amanda Lopez  08:07 barriers to entry, you know, just for being a woman. And that’s a little disheartening, but I do see the tides changing a little bit. And I think podcasts like this, you know, really help because representation is so important. Like, I know, in my artistic career, my artistic journey in the beginning, I feel like I was able to keep pushing, because I had one or two people in my life that I could look up to, you know, and that was in pre internet days. And so now, you know, the internet and social media, I feel like people are starting to connect more. People are starting to see like what is possible. And that makes the biggest difference. Like if you can see another woman, another Latina, another person doing what you want to do, it just makes the journey feel more attainable, you know. And so, I try and lean into that. And I do see like some shifts happening. So that’s exciting.

Mónika  09:12 How have your identities affected the subject matter that you choose? So of course, I’m thinking of your Guadalupe series, which I love. Are there other ways that your identity you can speak to that one? Are there other ways that your identities have influence just how you choose to create your projects?

Amanda Lopez  09:31 Well, I draw inspiration from so many places in my work, but primarily I would say it’s from like my family and like my cultural identity. I feel like in my work, you can see oh, she’s Latina, you know, like by the people I choose to photograph and personal projects, by the projects that I choose to create you know, like I’m really proud of being like Mexican American and I’m I come from a gigantic family With so much history, and I’ve learned so many lessons from them. And like, all of that I put in the work, you know. And so my cultural identity really plays a big part in, in my work. And, you know, I like a lot of color. If you go to my website, you can see, you know, I love color. And that comes from living in a house where every room was painted a different color in my home and my grandma’s home. My dad had a huge garden, roses all over our, you know, front yard and backyard. My grandma loves plants. So I just grew up being around like, all of these colors and flavors and textures. And it’s so deeply ingrained in me that like it, I can’t help but like, show it in like the work particularly like my my personal work, you know,

Mónika  10:50 So you mentioned you’re in a large family. And you talked a little bit about how your parents supported you. How about the rest of your family and your community? How did they respond to you as a photographer, and as you’re entering that journey?

Amanda Lopez  11:04 I feel really lucky because my family supported me and my extended family too, like my grandma, you know, she was a stay at home mom, I’m sure she had a lot of dreams and aspirations that she had in her life as a young girl. And unfortunately, perhaps some of those things didn’t get to happen. But I think when she looked at her grandkids, she was supportive in any way that she could be, again, just being happy that we had the freedom to pursue the creative endeavors that we wanted. So I yeah, I think my family got a kick out of like, oh, Amanda wants to be an artist. Cool. Let’s see what happens, you know. So I’m lucky. I’m lucky in that way. Because I think that made all the difference. If I didn’t have, you know, my family support and my extended family support, I think that it would have been, it could have been perhaps a slightly harder road. But you know, I’m really lucky in that way.

Mónika  11:59 When I look at your work, it is. So you and so varied, especially when I look at your client work? How do you both maintain your voice while attending to the needs of your client? Like how do you find that inspiration? And how do you develop those ideas?

Amanda Lopez  12:17 I think I’ve been really lucky, too, because the clients that hire me to work with them. They’re hiring me based on the work that they’ve seen from me. And so they already have an expectation of what the type of like what type of images I’m going to create for them. Of course, client work is more collaborative. You know, they have the vision, and I’m coming to the table to like, bring that to life. But like I said, I feel like the clients that I’m working with they, they know what my strong points are. And that’s the reason that they’re hiring me. And so, you know, I would say even though my there is a variation in my work, and my client list, I tend to treat each project the same way. Like whether I’m it’s a personal project for me, or it’s a project for a client, like, the process that I go through is the same. And so I think that’s like the through line that you can see in like my work compared to my client work.

Mónika  13:19 Can you speak a little bit to that process? What is your process?

Amanda Lopez  13:24 Yeah, I think every time I go into a session, I immediately start brainstorming, I start thinking about, like, the person that I’m working with, if they’re a celebrity, or someone that’s well known, I’d like to look and see, like what’s been done before, because I want to make sure that the image that I make is unique in its own way, and it’s not something that the person has done before. You know, I like to make mood boards, I like to really sit and look, I find a lot of inspiration in magazines and books, you know, and so I like to, you know, on top of a mood board and researching the person I’m working with, I like to look in books and see like, get inspiration from there, see what feels good. See what think about what the person might like, you know, and that that is, you know, the same thing that I do with clients who like of course, they have a vision but I also try and think like what could I bring to the table what what skills what ideas could I bring to like make that photo even better? You know,

Mónika  14:25 What is been one of your favorite collaborations or a project that has really just energized you and you’re super excited about the the ideas, the collaboration, the energy.

Amanda Lopez  14:37 One of the projects that’s been the most inspiring and re energizing actually was a project that I worked on, called Guadalupe. And Guadalupe is a project that I had this idea for this project for a long time. And ideas kept coming to me and I kept kind of brushing them off like who Yeah, that’s cool. Maybe later, maybe later, you know. And then I read this book, Elizabeth Gilbert, I think it’s called Big Ideas or something like that. But a friend of mine recommended it. And I read it and it talks about magic.

Mónika  15:14 Big Magic.

Amanda Lopez  15:15 Yes. That that book. Yeah, I read that book. And after I read that book, I was like, Oh, I got to work on this project, because that book talks about how like, ideas come to you because they want you. They want the idea to come through you, right? And if you don’t honor it, the idea will go to someone else. And I was like, oh, no, I really want to work on this project. I need to honor the idea. You know, I grew up Catholic. I grew up going to Our Lady of Guadalupe church, like for the first 15 years of my life. I grew up in the choir, I had my baptism, my confirmation, my Quinceañera, all at Our Lady of Guadalupe church. And I also grew up, you know, in a house, my grandma’s house, and my mom and dad’s house, you know that we had images of Guadalupe everywhere. And so she was extremely influential in my life. And I started to think about the ways in which like, Oh, why was she influential? What did you learn? What ideas did you absorb? Those thoughts have been kind of subconsciously in me since I picked up the camera. So throughout my whole journey, I’ve been kind of unconsciously documenting Guadeloupe in different places. But in 2019, I decided to really go for it. I’m going to spend this year and shoot a bunch of things. And then I decided that on December 12, which is Guadalupe’s feast day that I would release a zine, like showing the images that I shot. And so that’s what I did. And, you know, photography, for me is a really healing practice. It’s helped me come into my own, it helps me process emotions that I cannot verbalize. It helps me meditate. For me, photography is like a meditative practice. Like when I am taking a photo, when I’m in a photo session is the most focused, the most connected, I am to myself. And so the Guadalupe series was just a really, really healing practice because, I don’t know I, I, in my late 20s, I kind of moved away from Catholicism and, and, and Our Lady of Guadalupe and I couldn’t really explain it, I couldn’t figure it out. But I didn’t step in a church, I didn’t even want to look at this image. And through this process, I really was able to redefine what my relationship was to Our Lady of Guadalupe. And it felt really good to come back. For me, she’s this idea of love and kindness. And I look at her as a mother nature, you know. So it was, it was really nice for me to come back to it. And not in a religious way. Like I found meaning in her outside of religion, which is one of many ideas that I explore in my series, Guadalupe. And so, yeah, for me to date, that’s probably been the most kind of cathartic and exciting. I’ve been about a project for a little while.

Mónika  18:26 And I’ve seen your Vans shoes series, and I saw you talked about how that just those photos just for you joy. Can you speak a little bit about that series? And also just what is what is the role of joy in your creation process?

Amanda Lopez  18:42 Yeah, the Vans shoe series. That’s a project that I picked up my first year in college, and worked on those photos off and on for like 20 years took, I would say, probably the last photo in that series in 2020, during the pandemic, in 2001. You know, it was a ending my first year in college. And I wanted to learn how to skateboard. And so I went to the skate park with my friends and realized rather quickly that I perhaps was not meant to be a skateboarder. So I sat down, it was still fun, you know, I was hanging out with some friends. And so I just kind of sat down and started taking pictures and I have to happen to be wearing my checkerboard Vans, which are like a staple shoe for me, I would say I’ve had a pair, you know, for over 20 years now. And so I started taking pictures at the skate park and little by little would just take photos of, you know, myself and interesting locations and just kind of have my shoes peeking out from under the frame. You know, and it was just like a fun thing for me to do, like just joyful and, you know, looking back on the photos that I made, you know, I was lucky that I was able to travel, you know, quite a bit like within the last 10 years of my life. And that’s something that I never thought would happen. You know, I grew up in a family where vacation, maybe we would go to Reno like for a day like drive from Sacramento, you know, and I think I went to Hawaii once because my mom wanna a radio contest. And so like, we got to go to Hawaii, but vacation kind of luxury luxury vacations, like we’re not in the cards for like a single mom and her three kids. And so later in life, photography took me all over the world. And I got to travel and as like, first and second generation Latina, like, you know, I remember when I went to Paris, I took Advanced photo in Paris, and I just couldn’t believe it. I was like, I cannot believe I’m in Paris, like, as a little girl, my mom would buy me books, like of artists who and you know, there’d be stories about artists in Paris and painting along the Seine. And I just always thought, Oh, that’s so cool. But never imagined that one day, I would be there, you know, and so, those photos, like, bring me a lot of joy and like, pride, and like, you know, life is so short life is so short. And to be able to have like some of the experiences that I’ve had blow my mind, to be honest with you. And the the Vans photo project is this kind of an extension of that, like, that joy, you know, like, finding joy in photography, finding excitement and happiness and being able to travel and being able to do what I love. And it’s been a cool journey. And those photos kind of document that, you know,

Mónika  21:43 Thank you for sharing that. Is there a particular image other than the Paris one that really sticks with you or stands out to you?

Amanda Lopez  21:51 Even today, I made in Cuba, in La Plaza de La Revolución, and that was that was a treat, because my sophomore year City College was offering these study abroad trips to Cuba. And I really wanted to go and say, How can we make this happen? Like, you know, and so I walked into my financial aid office and asked if there was any opportunities, you know, that I could apply for, and there was, and, you know, I applied for some financial aid and was able to go to Cuba on this trip. And I think that was like my first kind of inclination kind of subconsciously, like, oh, I want this life. I want more out of my life when I want to experience things. And so that was kind of a a nice moment that I was able to document with those photos in the van shoe series.

(music)
A reminder to listen to next week’s episode, when Amanda takes us behind the scenes and into her thought process as she created three of her most significant images. No te lo pierdas. Don’t miss it.

Mónika 22:49 What do you feel like is the role of mentors? What has been the role of mentors in your photography journey?

Amanda Lopez  22:56 I think mentors are so important. And I’m lucky in that when I was starting my journey, I discovered the work of the photographer, Estevan Oriol, you know, Latino photographer in LA, who, you know, is Mexican, and I found his work, looking through a magazine and in college and felt really connected to it. I was able to intern first though, when I graduated college, and I was there for a little less than a year. But having that example and having that representation, really just it makes it makes a difference. You know, like having mentors, having people that you can turn to I think, early on in life, I wasn’t someone that liked to ask for help. You know, I grew up in a family where that just wasn’t something that we did, you know, I saw my mom, for better or worse, like really, really just do the best that she could on her own. And I think that was some subconsciously passed down to me. And so when I started my photo journey, I think a part of me, didn’t think that I could ask for help or didn’t think that I needed a mentor or even part of me probably also was a little like, embarrassed that oh, man, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m just gonna suffer in silence, you know, but as I’ve gotten older, I realized, oh, that’s, you don’t have to do that. That’s not the case. Like there’s so many people. So many organizations, like so many things that you can reach out to and ask for help. And I think it’s important because we don’t know everything. You know, the freelance journey, the artistic journey is can be so many things and can go so many ways and one way isn’t better than the other one way isn’t, you know, right or wrong. And so I think it’s important to be able to reach out to mentors reach out for help and just know that that’s okay. You know, and so I, I was lucky in that I was able to see and assists as the Estevan that really helped me decide and really like go for, oh, yes, I want to be a photographer, you know. And along the way, I’ve had some really great mentors too, that just like, who encouraged me who maybe weren’t photographers, but who encouraged me. And that also made a huge difference. You know, my photo teacher in high school, Mr. Toya. He was amazing, like, he saw how dedicated and how convicted I was, and being a photographer, and really did what he could to nurture that, like, he gave me an enlarger, you know, at the end of the year, you know, he was able to give me a scholarship through the high school. And so like, all of these things really helped push me forward, it makes a difference. If you have people in your corner.

Mónika  26:01 Have you had the opportunity to be a mentor?

Amanda Lopez  26:04 I have had the opportunity through Las Fotos Project in LA, to do a mentorship there with one of their students. And that was so fun for me, hopefully, the young girl that I worked with got something out of it. But it was really fun for me to see her excitement and to help her in any way that I could, you know, and I see mentorship, being in my future, you know, like, I would really love to do that, again.

Mónika  26:35 I stumbled upon or found your blogspot, and I was able to sort of scroll back through your work since 2007 and see this progression of your craft, which is so beautiful to be able to see a photographer to work who you admire, and say like, okay, this is where they’ve been, this is how they’ve gotten there. Can you speak a little bit to like, what was the work that went in to that evolution in that growth of your craft?

Amanda Lopez  27:01 I think that time in this space has been what’s helped me evolve, I’ve been taking pictures since I was 16 years old. And in the last 10 years, I was finally able to go freelance. And I think, time and also like, just a conviction in, I got to do this, this is a thing that makes me happy. And so you know, along the way, I’ve been really lucky. And then I was I’ve always had art related jobs. And so, you know, I worked in galleries and photo studios, and just being around that helped me stay focused and like in the game, but I feel like time has been the biggest help. You know, there’s been times along this path that I wanted to quit. That I was like, you know what, I gotta throw in the towel, I need to find a nine to five job. Like, you know, freelancing can be tricky. There’s been so many times that I’ve been ready to call it quits. And by the grace of God, that didn’t happen, like, you know, I remember one time, I was like, Oh, I think I think this is it. I don’t know how much more I can do this. And had that thought in the evening. And then I woke up in the morning to an email from a client. And I thought, Oh, this is this is a sign from the universe, like, keep going, if you can, you know, if I would have quit 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that I’ve had this last decade. And so my little piece of advice, take it or leave it is stay in the game as long as you can, you know, I think it can make a difference.

Mónika  28:39 The COVID pandemic affected all of our lives. And I think there’s a special thing that happened for creatives who had to just pause. I mean, that’s an understatement. For creatives, what happened in that moment? What did that time mean for your journey? And I want to say, how did you use that time? Because that, you know, plays a lot, but what did what has this shift in the universe meant for your creative process, your work and the way you approach work?

Amanda Lopez  29:10 For me, and I think probably for a lot of people, it was the first time that I was forced to slow down. And that was really uncomfortable. I was used to working, you know, a handful of different jobs like freelancing on the side. Just going, going, going, going going and what the pandemic forced me to do was to slow down and begin to question what I wanted the next leg of my practice to look like because I knew that I was burning the candle at both ends. I was really really had my head down and just hustling and while that felt okay to do like in my 20s, you know, in my 30s and now I’m entering into a new decade. I’m forty now, like, I can’t work like that anymore. I want the pandemic helped me realize that I need to work smarter and not harder. That made a difference. You know, I am not perfect, you know, I still find myself sometimes back in those old patterns. But at least I have an awareness now that I didn’t have before. And that and that makes a difference.

Mónika  30:22 What role have creative communities played in your journey?

Amanda Lopez  30:27 I have so many, like my artistic community, my friends, like they’re all artists, they’re all musicians. They’re all drummers. You know, they make beats, they’re painters. Having that around normalizes, right like this freelance artistic journey, you know, like surrounding yourself around people who are doing similar things to you. Really, it feels good, and it feels encouraging. And as I’ve gotten older, like, I recognize how important like your community is, right? Like you want to be around people that make you feel good at the bare minimum, but also support you and understand you. And so my community of friends, and creatives is really, really awesome. And I’m so lucky to have them in my life. And for the most part, you know, I would say a lot of the folks that I’m close to our friends that I’ve had since high school, and we’re all out here, doing our thing, you know, and it’s been cool to see like, all of our evolutions, and all of the paths, just keep going, you know, that’s inspiring to me and find your community, you know, like, online, even, like, I’ve met so many amazing people online, you know, social media is a gift and a curse, right, but you can use it to connect with other folks. And so that’s what I try and use it for, too.

Amanda Lopez  31:57 When I peeked into the Twitterverse, at your account, I noticed that you’re very involved in the NFT world. And I’m curious how you got into that space as a photographer. I know it’s fairly new for photography, but also very intense. And there’s a lot going on in that space. Can you speak a little bit to how you found that world? And what it what is it brought for you?

Amanda Lopez  32:23 Yeah, in the last year or so I didn’t use they are super new, you know, I feel like they’ve gained popularity in the last year or so. And I learned about them last year, too. And as a person who learned photography with film first, like I couldn’t really wrap my mind around what is an NFT? Like, why would someone want to buy my JPEG? I don’t want to sell my JPEG. Like I just couldn’t understand what an NFT was. And as I began to explore what this web3 world was, learn more about it. For me, I discovered that there was opportunity there to have another revenue stream. I think as freelancers I think it’s important to diversify your revenue stream, if you can, you know, I think the pandemic taught us that too. And so I started just to kind of explore one of my friends in the creative community, he was telling me about NFT’s is like, really, you should look into this, I think it’d be really cool for you. And I resisted, and I resisted and like I said, until I started learning about them, that I started to notice their potential and what it can mean for artists. And one of the things that I really like about NFTs is a royalty aspect that you can write into your contracts. And that’s something that is not really common for photographers or people in like the fine art world, right? Like you sell a painting and you never see it again, you don’t know what that collector is going to do with it. And if they sell it, you won’t see royalty. But through learning about an NFTs, I realized that like in Europe, for example, like royalties for artists are a common thing. But they’re not common in the States. musicians get you know, royalties. But artists like they don’t it’s not a common practice. And so when I started to learn about like their possibilities, it really made sense to me. And so I started to explore the avenues and kind of dip my my toes in the water to see what was out there. I connected with a photo platform called Quantum and they release photographers they help onboard photographers into the NFT space. And just meeting that community was really,it shifted my my mindset like oh, there’s an opportunity for artists to make money and you know, it’s challenging. It can be challenging for artists to make money. I know, at least for me, I felt so privileged just to be a photographer that sometimes items, unfortunately, monetary concerns would fall by the wayside. But you know, that’s not necessarily fair. Like I’m I’m choosing to make my living this way. And so I shouldn’t be able to right. And so connecting with that community and web3 and NFT’s and learning about, you know, artists in the space, just expanded my horizons. Within the last year, I’ve shared two different NFT projects onto the blockchain, and they’ve been received really well. And I have two sold out collections. And that’s the first time that’s ever happened to me. And so just to see, the opportunity, really is something that’s exciting. And it’s new, right? Like, it’s still developing, and it’s in its early stages. But I just, I look at NFT’s as one way for artists to be able to continue to be artists and to make a living.

Mónika  35:51 I have so many questions, but we’ll run out of time if I ask all my NFT and photography questions.

Amanda Lopez  35:57 Yeah, there’s, I mean, it really is like a, it’s a lot like the first, I was completely overwhelmed when I started to learn about NFT’s, like, it’s so much information, you have to gain a level of financial literacy. I mean, some people don’t, but it’s important that you do tend to understand how that market works, you know, and, and yeah, there’s just a lot of data to gather before someone can decide whether or not they want to enter the market. So it can be completely overwhelming. But I have found in the last six months that I’ve been in this space, I have found the community that I’ve connected with to be very welcoming, very open, and very encouraging, which has been really nice. It’s another way that artists can share their work, you know, and I think the more ways the better, you know,

Mónika  36:47 Definitely. What’s coming up for you next, what are you working on?

Amanda Lopez  36:52 What am I working on? I am working on two projects right now, personal projects are what really, like light me up and excite me, you know, and so I’m excited to be working on these two personal projects. The first is a collaborative project that I’m working on with Maxwell McMaster. He’s a painter. He’s from my hometown of Sacramento, he lives in LA now. And we are working on an NFT project together that is all around based on like the Venus archetype. And so he’s a painter, I’m a photographer. So we’re merging our crafts, and creating this new body of work that we hope to bring to the blockchain sometime in the fall. And long term, I’m working on this project, photographing people of color in the country music space, I am a fan of country music. And for a long time, I was like, embarrassed to say that because I didn’t see myself represented in that space. And so and the last couple of years, I started thinking like, well, what can I do to change that? You know, because it was my, my cousin Ruthie. Like, who introduced me to country music when I was a little girl, you know. And I had this like, you know, secret love affair with it. But I didn’t tell anybody. And so in the last couple of years, the last year, I started reaching out to folks in the space via POC, and LGBTQ artists in the space, because those folks are all underrepresented in, in country music. And so I’ve been reaching out and making portraits, and it’s something that I hope to get funded, so I can really, like dive into it. But it’s something that I’ve been working on now for the past year. And it’s exciting. I see a shift happening in the industry slowly, very slowly. But it’s exciting to be able to add to the conversation in my own way, you know, through photography, which is what I know, yeah, those are the two projects I’m working on right now. And myself, I feel like I’m a work in progress. I’m trying to lean into peace and joy is my mantra this year, I really am trying to, like lean into things that bring me joy, and that bring more peace into my life. You know, I’m working on only having those kinds of relationships in my life, too. And so, myself, I’m another project and so yeah, all those things.

Mónika  39:14 Can I say how much I love the energy of I don’t see myself in the space or I don’t feel like belong, so what can I do about that? What can I do as an artist? I love that energy.

Amanda Lopez  39:25  Oh, thank you.

Mónika  39:26 Are there any other Latina photographers that you think that we should know about?

Mónika  39:30 Yes, I’m so excited because I know I’m going to learn about more folks through your podcast. But one of the photographers that I you know, whose work I really love that Ramona Rosales. She’s a advertising commercial photographer. I just I love her style. You know, she does beautiful portraits. The other photographer whose work I really enjoy is Nalani [Hernandez] Melo. Her work is just so like heart centered to me like when I see her photos, and I know her personally we’ve met for before, and she has such a peace to her and I see that in her photos. And so those are two folks that I recommend your listeners go check out.

Mónika  40:11 All right, and another opportunity for shout outs are there any Latina businesses that you support and recommend other people to support?

Amanda Lopez  40:20 I have so many recommendations for this category. The first is my sister store. My sister Vanessa has a store in Sacramento called Heart Boutique, women’s fashion. My sister is the most stylish, fashionable person that I know she’s amazing. She puts all of her art and creativity into her fashion and it shows she has a website that people can check out shop at heart. That’s awesome. A second business that I recommend is my girl Megan. She is a tarot reader, and sells crystals and sage and she makes beautiful candles, but had a reading with her recently and it was spot on, folks can find her at shadow play on Instagram. And then lastly, I would check out my friend Adina, she’s a facialist. Her business is called Natural feelings spa. And she’s based in LA and Atlanta. She’s awesome. And then actually one more I know so many amazing Latinas, I could honestly I could be here forever. But the last one and she has really helped me get a grasp on financial literacy, Linda Garcia, she is a wealth generator, and she teaches the Latinx community about stocks and finance and abundance. And I took her course, this year, I’m going through her course but I signed up for her Patreon last year. And I feel like this year has been the year that I’ve been most aligned in my financial life. And it’s all because of Linda Garcia. Check her out on Instagram,@luzwarrior and @inluzwetrust is where people can get finance information. And you know, financial literacy isn’t something that like I grew up with. And so to see to learn about it now is really, really exciting to me because it’s all this information that I’m learning that I’ll be able to pass on to my niece and help create generational wealth and our families. And so those four women that I just mentioned are incredible amazing. I think everybody should go follow them and thank you for letting me share their information.

Mónika  42:40 I actually just started watching Luz’s the her free master class the other day I had it on I had listened to her back when she first started her podcast like her first podcast, and look at what she’s doing now. All right, and now shout yourself out where can people find your work? Where can they follow you?

Amanda Lopez  42:58 People can find me on my website, AmandaLopezphoto.com and on Instagram and Twitter under the same name, @snapshotlopes Lopes, my last name is Lopez but nickname is that people call me as Lopes and so I don’t want to confuse anybody but my Instagram and Twitter are snapshotlopes

Mónika  43:21 And we’ll have all of those linked in the show notes. Thank you so much, Amanda. It’s been such a pleasure to get to know you better and hear even more stories about your path and your journey.

Amanda Lopez  43:33 Thank you so much for having me and for creating this space. It’s so important and it felt really good to be able to talk to you about this journey and put things into perspective and you know, to share any little insights that I could so I appreciate you having me.

Mónika  43:50 Thank you.

Next week Amanda shares three of her significant images, one of her grandma, and two opportunities to create portraits of celebrity Latinas that marked different milestones her photographic journey. Subscribe and add notifications in your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss it. If you have enjoyed this conversation, please share with family, friends, your art and photography teachers and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. A few minutes of your time means so much to me and the photographers that we admire. Gracias for listening.