BIO

My name is Carlos Trujillo and I am photographer from the Española Valley in the heart of northern New Mexico. My interest in photography started as a student who would spend hours looking through different volumes of the Guinness Book of World Records at my elementary school library. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was more interested in the photographs presented in those books than the words that accompanied them. It was a fascinating glimpse into the world outside the high-desert valley that I had grown so accustomed to. Each page would showcase people with different talents, hobbies, and body modifications that was somehow more bizarre than the one before it. There was always something new to look for in the images and they never failed to capture my curiosity. I was hooked.

I was a casual consumer of still photography for much of my early life. However, like a true millennial, I didn’t start producing images of my own until I got my first cell phone that had a camera built into it. Even back then, I remember taking the time to compose images with the best angles and was part of that first generation who got to share them online in the early days of social media. It was exciting to have the ability to share something you made and receive instant feedback. Media was evolving to adapt to the growing digital influence of the internet and networking with other creatives was just a small byproduct of that. Before I knew it, I was connected with photographers and was influenced by the unique styles people were producing from other parts of the world. New ideas were always being shared and a tutorial video was always one click away if I wanted to learn new skill. It was the perfect environment to have an interest in media.

It wasn’t until the summer of my senior year of high school that I got my hands on my first DLSR camera and decided I wanted to take my photography to the next level. That summer I was looking for every excuse to put my brand-new camera to good use, which often resulted in countless hours spent hiking the foothills surrounding Espanola looking for the perfect view. These serendipitous excursions became valuable hands-on opportunities because it gave me the opportunity to put the skills I had learned from the internet into practice. I failed plenty of times, but each failure was a building block and another opportunity to learn.

In the years that followed, I viewed photography as nothing more than a hobby. I never considered it as something I could study in school nor could have imagined it was something I could make a career out of. That all changed my sophomore year of college when I decided to take an Introduction to Photography course to fulfill an elective credit and the rest is history. That class was my first introduction to a formal education in the medium and I grew to love every minute of it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I ended up making the decision to switch my major from education to mass communications so I could pursue a degree in photojournalism. I soon realized the same awe that inspired my curiosity in my photography courses was the same thing I experienced as a child flipping through photobooks in my elementary school library. Discovering photography was like running into an old friend—and it was exhilarating.

I came to know photography as a unique expression of our humanity. Still images have the power to captivate our attention because they’re often a reflection of our shared experiences as human beings. This is a medium that empowers us to tell stories, document the past, and learn about the world around us as it changes. Photography inspires us to have discussions, open dialogue with complete strangers, and see stories from other parts of the world we’d never get to experience otherwise. Media has never been as accessible to people as it is today and I consider myself lucky to be alive at a time in history where our visual stories can be shared with the click of a mouse.

I am profoundly grateful for the experiences that photography has brought to my life. I have contributed photos to advertising campaigns with multi-million dollar budgets, and have been fortunate enough to have seen several of my images get published as billboards and magazine covers among other highly visible mediums to promote our national security. In addition to these milestones—and perhaps more profoundly— I have had the opportunity to collaborate with hundreds of customers through hands-on experience out in the field and have gained priceless experience serving my colleagues as a mentor. Photography has been a cornerstone to my professional development and has enabled me to learn and grow in ways I could have never imagined.

I want to sincerely express my gratitude for your interest in my attempt to capture the world and tell its stories as I experience them. I have made memories, visited places, and heard stories that I will not soon forget. It has become one of the greatest joys of my life.

Best regards,

Carlos Trujillo