I Fell Down And Nobody Helped Me

Last Saturday, I was on a train when a group of kids boarded with bikes which they placed against the opposite doors from which they entered. As the train sped, the bikes wiggled and threatened to fall over. Without giving it a second thought, I jumped from my seat and tried to hold them, but before I could reach them, they stabilized and stayed upright. I was already half standing, so I just tried to go back to my seat but, instead, I fell to the floor on my bum, hitting the edge of the seat with my back and the side panel with my elbow. I had forgotten that I had been sitting on one of those retractable seats.

I stayed on the train floor for probably five seconds which felt like an eternity. I then tried to get up but, because the train was in motion, I struggled to grab one of the poles to lift myself up. After probably 30 seconds of battling to hold the pole firmly, I was able to stand up, dust my jacket and my trousers, and make sure that this time the seat was down before I sat. Meanwhile, the rest of the passengers acted as if nothing had happened. No one came to help me. Not even the kids who owned the bikes. One of them just exclaimed "wow!" and looked away. The whole car remained in silence until the next stop.

As I was trying to make sense of what had happened, I didn't feel any embarrassment nor pain. I was just shocked, upset really, that nobody came to my aid. I could have broken a bone for all they cared and absolutely no one could be bothered to help a fellow human being in distress. When did we become like this? When did we stop caring for the wellbeing of others? Has it always been like this and I just hadn't realized it? Where did it all go wrong?

Photographer Bettina Rheims said during the Festival de Hyères: "If one day we convince one person to open their ideas and minds then we help make the world better." I hope that if at least one person reads this post, I convince them to make an effort to offer a hand when another human being is in need of help. Like Bettina, I believe that we can change the world, one person at a time.

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RIP Stephen Hawking

Today we have lost one of the brightest minds in modern history and a person whose contribution to humanity is unmeasured. Professor Stephen Hawking passed away this morning at age 76 in his home in Cambridge, leaving behind a legacy which includes his works on black holes and the relationship between Einstein's theory of relativity and the Big Bang. One can only begin to comprehend how much humankind has lost today.

There are many human deaths every day, people constantly die from natural causes, from diseases, in horrible conflicts, accidents or even natural disasters. And it doesn't seem fair to mourn the death of just one person when there would be so many other human beings who deserved to be honoured as well. But the reason why I decided to honour the memory of Professor Hawking is that his life is an example of how one person can battle their own demons and overcome all the obstacles and limitations that have been thrown at them and still live an exemplary life contributing so much to our species.

These should be our heroes. These should be the role models our children look up to. Not one single person who achieves celebrity status these days has done so much for humanity as this man did. And I'm sure that there are so many more exemplary human beings working in the shadows and doing real good who we will probably never hear of in the news or in our social media feeds.

That's why I decided to acknowledge his passing on my blog today. I hope that everytime that I'm faced with a challenge that can potentially set me back, I remember people like him, who in spite of adversity managed to achieve so much. Rest in Peace, Professor Hawking.

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Happy 2018!

We live in times when our value as human beings is measured by what we have. Whoever has the most followers, the fastest car, the priciest clothes or the biggest bank account seems to be better than the rest. And even though we all know that it doesn't work that way, there always seems to be a space reserved for those who have more of something than the rest. Isn't it time we changed the "I have, therefore I am" philosophy and make it about having more of what really counts?

Over the last year I have had amazing experiences and met really inspiring people; I have travelled to new places and discovered other cultures and other ways of thinking; I have worked with both old and new clients and have had some pretty interesting gigs; and most of all, I have had deep and meaningful interactions with the people that I have been lucky to cross paths with, be it relatives, friends, peers or acquaintances. Of course, it has not all been fun and games; along the way, I have also lost jobs, clients and even people whom I called friends.

But, in my re-interpretation of the "I have, therefore I am" rule, I can say that I am happy. Because I have more love, more fulfiling experiences and more learning opportunities than I could ever wish for. And for that, I am really grateful.

Before the year ends, look back on 2017 and choose to focus on the things that you have that are meaningful. I wish that, like me, you realize that what you have is more than enough to be happy.

Happy 2018.

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com

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The Value Of Life

While I was standing at a pedestrian crossing waiting for the light to change, a woman with a baby in arms crossed the street with the pedestrian light still in red. She must be in a real hurry - I thought - to be willing to endanger both her life and the life of her child. Sadly, this was not the first time that I had witnessed something like this. We have all seen those people whose time is so precious that they feel like it is a waste of time waiting a few seconds for the light to turn green. In a world where the rush justifies the danger, what is the real value of a human life?

It’s been almost 20 years since I left Panama. Moving out of my country helped me understand that there was a world out there which was bigger than me. With time, living in different countries opened my horizons and my mind and gave me an appreciation for humanity. Nowadays, ageing has given me a sense of inclusiveness, and the realisation that we are just one species and that we are all equal. The knowledge that in spite of our superficial differences, we all have the same needs and fears and that my life is not worth any more or any less than any other person on the planet has been one of the most important lessons learnt in my life.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the value of a human life. From the complicity on gun violence of gun owners and gun associations; to police brutality in the US, France and Spain; to countries closing their borders on people fleeing from war and death, there is just too little appreciation for human lives these days. If you are regularly on social media like I am, you sometimes feel like the life of a cat or a dog is more precious than the life of another person.

I used to think that only people in power had the capacity to sit down in their offices just caring about their own interests while making decisions that affect millions of lives. But now, I've come to realize that we, the everyday people, do it as well. 

We flick through our social media channels or news outlets judging and deciding the fate of other human beings by ignoring their requests for help; by supporting invasions and wars with other countries; by encouraging our government to close the borders on people fleeing conflicts that our own countries have created; or by cold-heartedly deciding whether someone should be fired, extradited, jailed or killed. 

It is as if those faces that we see on the news or the internet are difficult to relate to because they are from far away. They are on the other side of our devices; they are not like us... But, they are! And sooner or later the ones in their position could be us. History has an unpredictable way of shifting the balance of power and when we least expect it, it could be us running for our lives.

This is the only life that we have. There is no after-life, no reincarnation, no heaven nor hell. This is it. Wouldn't it be better lived if we spent it appreciating a bit more our lives and the lives of others? Wouldn't it be worth it if we just waited a few seconds for the crossing light to turn green?

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Buy A Postcard For A Good Cause

This month of October, over 1000 photographers are taking part in the Photography On A Postcard fundraiser organised by The Hepatitis C Trust. The fundraiser consists on a lottery that guarantees the ticket-holder a 10x15cms (postcard size) photograph from photographers like Jim Goldberg, Martin Parr, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nina Berman, and Cristina De Middel, or less-familiar talents. All ticket-holders will be winners, with photographs assigned to each ticket at random. Two of my photos from my Brexiters series will take part in the lottery. What are you waiting for to buy your ticket? 

The Hepatitis C Trust is the national UK charity for hepatitis C with offices in London and Falkirk. It has been operating since 2001. It is a patient-led and patient-run organisation: most of their board, staff, and volunteers either have hepatitis C or have had it and have cleared it after treatment. Their over-arching goal is to shut down because they are no longer needed; in other words, because hepatitis C has been eliminated in the UK. Historically, hepatitis C has been neglected, partly because there has been no concerted patient voice and because it is often wrongly stigmatised as a drug user’s disease.

With Photography On A Postcard, the trust will try to replicate the success of Art On A Postcard, a program which raises money through an annual secret postcard auction and ‘postcard lotteries’ throughout the year. To date Art on a Postcard has raised over £350K for The Hepatitis C Trust.

I am really pleased to have the opportunity to donate my work to such a good cause. Please show your support and buy your ticket on this link.

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The Show Must Go On

I was recently told that I don't look like a fashion photographer. At first, the statement didn't sit well with me. Were they saying this because I just put on what feels comfortable and not anything "trendy"? Was it because I care and show interest about many topics rather than just talking about designers and catwalks all day? Or was it because of any of the other stereotypes that people from outside the industry have of those who work in fashion? I couldn't tell. But then, after a while, it hit me. This person wasn't trying to insult me. Their words were actually meant as a compliment.

Honestly, I don't blame this person for having that opinion of me. More often than not this industry feels disconnected from reality. If you care just a bit about what is going on in the world you automatically don't fit with the image that the industry has made for itself.

Take for instance the New York Fashion Week. Millions of people were being displaced or left without homes due to the several hurricanes that hit the Caribbean and the south of the United States in early September. At the same time, the industry was prancing the catwalks in New York. If you were reading the news those days, you would see photos of models on runways alongside photos of people fleeing their towns in search of refuge. Very few brands and designers took actions to raise awareness for the victims of the natural phenomena that were causing mayhem a few states down south.

Was this what Jim Carrey was trying to tell us? We will never know. What we know is that the show always goes on. It must go on. This industry employs millions of people around the globe and it contributes immensely to many economies. For that, it deserves credit. But its reach also comes with the responsibility to respect and value their audience and their target. Showing a little sensibility for the issues that matter to the rest of the world won't hurt anyone. In the end, if we want the engagement of our customers, we must show that we care for them too.

In the effort of trying to sell a fairy tale fantasy and an unattainable lifestyle reserved to a very few, the message that we are sending is that we just care about the money and attention of the consumers, not about their well-being. Luckily, this image of superficiality is just a very superficial layer. Below, there are many who work in the industry who don't fit the stereotypes. A lot of them are very active on the issues that affect humanity and the environment.  Not all of them are vocal about it or have the appropriate channels to voice their efforts. But these people exist, they are very real, and in my experience, they outnumber those who contribute to the shallow image of Fashion.

So, if the image of someone who works in this industry is the image of someone who is superficial, I am glad that I don't look like that. Because the last thing that I want is to look like someone how doesn't care about humanity and who feels that they are above the rest of the world.

Photo by Luca Dominique Marchesi.

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Too Many Thoughts Remain Unwritten

Today I was going to write about photography, but the recent events in Charlottesville have prompted me to write about Human Rights instead. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression", but in the case of hate speech, it always feels like this article contradicts the main purpose of this declaration to offer rights "without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." If we are promoting and encouraging equality, why are we protecting discrimination as well?

There has been a historically long debate about whether hate speech should be free speech. And I understand that there will always be parts of society that will have an opinion that is completely opposite to mine. But one thing is raising an opinion, and another thing is inciting violence with what you say. Because words can kill. And words have killed. And no matter how many people try to deny past and present slavery, past and present genocides, past and present horrors against humanity, they have taken place. And if we don't do something about it they will continue taking place.

The solution at this point in history might not lie in prohibiting this sort of speech, as those who take advantage of the vulnerabilities of our human rights declaration would also take advantage of possible hate speech rulings to silence those who think different to them. But there are things that we can do right now to plant the seed of kindness, tolerance and inclusion for the generations to come:

• Speak out. Use your freedom of opinion and express your thoughts. Condemn hatred, bigotry and discrimination of any kind. Talk to your relatives, to your friends, write about equality on social media and blogs. Even if it feels to your acquaintances that you have an annoying agenda, this is a matter of life and death. This is a time when our words can save lives. I found a very useful guide on how to speak your mind when confronted with hate speech on this link.

• Elect better representatives. As clichéd as this sounds, we have in our voting hands the power to let our leaders know that we won't condone any form of support for hatred. And because they should work for us, for that is the reason why we elected them, we must demand of them to improve our education systems and invest in programs to promote equality in our schools.

• Be kind. This might be the most important one. Lead by example, be kind and accepting of others and hold yourself to the highest standards of equality and inclusion. If we try to perform an act of kindness as often as we can we will all be contributing to spreading this message to the world. Every small action counts.

In the meantime, I refuse to remain silent about attacks against humanity. And even though the aim of this blog is to talk about business and marketing in the creative industries, every single word written in my posts is a part of who I am and how I think. And I feel that it is my duty to use my words to try to make this world a better place for every person and it is my human right to not let my thoughts remain unwritten.

Portrait by: Wayne Noir.

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Why Do We Take Photos?

Lately I have found myself coaching people on how to improve their photography skills and take better photos. And one of the things that I emphasize the most is that when we take a photo we need to understand what is the subject of our image to be able to convey a message about it. Sometimes the subject is very clear: a person, a building, a landscape, a dish; but other times we create images about experiences, about feelings, about moods, and then it is difficult for the viewer to understand what the photo is about. And even if it is difficult for ourselves to explain what an image that we took is about, there was a reason why we felt the need to capture it. The answer to the question "what is the subject of my image?" lies in the answer to another question: "why am I taking this photo?"

In this day and age when photography has been so democratized, I would say that the majority of people take photos to show others the experiences that they are living or the places where they go, some sort of visual journal of their lives. Other people, on the other hand, take photos in a less self-involved manner and more like witnesses of the world that surrounds them, like "a tourist in other people's realities" (Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977). But there are also people like me, photographers who get hired to take a photo of a person, a product or an idea for commercial purposes. No matter which type of photography you do, there is always a reason why you are taking an image. There is always a subject in mind.

The challenge relies on how to transmit the message to the viewer, how to make them understand what our photo is about. And for me the first step is understanding ourselves what the subject of our photo is. In my experience, this idea that might sound so obvious is not so obvious at all. Today's technology lets us take an infinite amount of photos for a very low cost which means that we end up clicking away every time that we want to capture something. Amateurs and professionals alike, with the "think less, shoot more" strategy we take a massive amount of images in the hope to be able to rescue at least a few good ones. And even if admittedly there are some instances when there is no time to think for too long because time is precious, most of the times stopping for a second to think about why we are taking an image translates into a better photo.

Do you want to improve your photography? Stop what you are doing and look around. Do you see any photos? Are you able to tell what the subject is? Now do this with your own photos. Is the subject as clear as you thought it would be when you took them?

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Waiting For The Bus To Come

Those who know me know that I enjoy cooking. More than enjoy, I would say that it is a hobby of mine. Spending hours in the kitchen taking individual ingredients, transforming them, and creating something that you can share with others is for me one of the biggest pleasures in life. But, apart from being a pleasure, it has also been a school. It has taught me patience and it has given me the ability to blindly wait for long periods of time to be rewarded with the outcome of my efforts. We all desperately need to learn how to cook.

It is funny that what I do for a living and what I like doing in my spare time are both related to the pass of time. Berenice Abbott wrote in her book 'The World of Atget': "(...) the photographer is the contemporary being par excellence; through his eyes the now becomes past." As photographers, we capture present time moments and turn them into memories from the past. But, as someone who enjoys cooking, the pleasure relies in imagining how a dish would taste in the future and then build with present ingredients towards that.

Carmen Herrera said in the documentary on her life: "If you wait for the bus, the bus will come." She had to wait until she was almost a 100 years old to be recognized for her art. But she never stopped painting. Not even when she was told at some point in her life that she would never make it in the art world because she was a woman. Talk about perseverance. Yet nowadays we are not willing to wait for anything in our lives: we buy pre-cooked food instead of cooking it ourselves, instant messaging has replaced almost all of our communications, we want immediate success without doing the effort.

If you have a goal in life you must have the patience and perseverance to attain it, but also the vision to make it sustainable in time. Immediate success often comes with immediate failure. Our business community is so consumed in going from zero to profit in the least amount of time possible that no one seems to be focusing on how to survive after success. In my opinion, it is better to arrive slowly but to have a solid foundation that will keep us going for long.

Don't rush into things, not even when you feel that everyone else is ahead of you. Everything happens at the right time. You can't have 40 years of experience if you haven't lived for 40 years. The same way that you can't make a delicious homemade meal if you don't spend a few hours in the kitchen.

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Creativity And Ego Don't Mix

A couple of nights ago, I went out for drinks with a group of photographer friends to catch up and to share our projects. At some point in the conversation, we started talking about inflated egos and we all agreed that something that we value in other people is humbleness. So why is it then that if so many people appreciate a humble person you find so much arrogance in our industry today?

I went jogging with another friend this morning, and out of the blue, they told me how much they liked humble people. So many people talking about humbleness seems to me like a reaction to the times that we are living. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about people wanting "Truth", and with this series of conversations that I have been having lately, I realise that we are all just getting a bit fed up with all the falseness and the arrogance that surrounds us.

There is a documentaries series that I watch on Netflix called the "Chef's Table", where different chefs from around the world talk about their craft and their path. One of the episodes was on Jeong Kwan, a monk and a cook from South Korea, and during the interview she said: "Creativity and ego cannot go together. If you free yourself from the comparing and jealous mind, your creativity opens up endlessly." I couldn't agree more. I too believe that people with inflated egos are usually trying to hide something: they either feel insecure about their work, or they feel like they don't have a clue about what they are doing or what is expected of them. So they react in this arrogant way to avoid other people from finding out. And the thing with creativity is that, when you have your mind full of insecurities about you or your work, full of jealousy for the success of others, or even full of paranoia that everyone else is trying to steal your clients or copy your work, your creativity doesn't have a space to flourish.

Besides, being in constant fear and self-doubt has to be exhausting and, no matter how much you try to pretend, everyone else around you can tell. Well, almost everyone. There is a part of the population that enjoys a diva. But, from these conversations, I can see that the majority of people feel rejection towards arrogance and you don't want to be the creative that no one wants to work with. Not your clients, not your peers, not even your own team.

Self-confidence and humbleness for me go together. When you know where you are standing, and what your value is, there is no need to pretend. Everyone around you will see it. And if they don't, maybe it's time to reconsider your target.

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The New Trend Is Truth

Last June, The Global Language Monitor announced that the Top Trending Global English Word for 2017 was 'Truth'. Not 'meme', not 'god', not an animal nor the name of a celebrity, but 'Truth'. People just want the truth. In a world with so much falseness, could it be that being real is all you need to stand out?

Truth. Such a strong word, for words themselves are very powerful; mightier than the sword, has been said. Used with good intentions they can move us, unite us, incite love, support and confidence; used with the wrong intentions, they can manipulate us, lead to hatred, destruction, and war. But, sometimes, we are not aware of the consequences of our words. We throw them unwittingly without stopping for a second to think if they are hurting others, or even ourselves. And nowhere is this more obvious than in social media these days. The internet age has made us feel as if everything was ephemeral, short living. We post something today and a few minutes later is not in our timelines anymore, it is gone, forever. Or so we think. But, it is not. It is just hidden, waiting patiently somewhere in the depths of an internet server to come bite us back. When I was growing up I was always told: "The spoken word can't be taken back." Replace "spoken" with "posted" and it is our reality today.

Therefore, we must be very careful with what we say online, specially in our businesses accounts. Our brands can be easily tainted by the wrong use of words, and the trust from our clients, present or future, might not be that easy to gain back. Before we post anything we must always ask ourselves: Is this true? Do I have proof? Does this represent me or my brand? Does this hurt anyone, including myself? Is this disrespectful to others, even the ones who are not like me? Think about the words that you like being told to you. Think about how it feels when someone tells you that they love you, that they support you, that you mean the world to them. Think about how you like it when people are honest with you, when they tell you the truth. Other people, including your clients, would appreciate that feeling as well.

Use your communication channels (voice, social media, email, online, print) being true to yourself and your branding but with respect, empathy, tolerance and transparency. Your clients, and your peers as well, might have different opinions or backgrounds than yours and just because they do business with you that does not mean that they see life the same way that you do. If you show them respect and truth they will more than likely show you their trust.

All the love or all the hatred in the world can fit in one word. Use words wisely.

Photo credit: Tana Benavides

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Changing The World One Photo At A Time

I am really happy to announce that I am now part of PhotoAid Global, an organisation that offers professional photographic services to NGOs, charities, and good causes in order to inspire understanding and action through visual documentary on human and animal rights, and raise environmental awareness. PhotoAid Global is the brainchild of Vanessa Champion, a brilliant photographer and an even more beautiful soul who has travelled the world living exceptional experiences with the most extraordinary people while telling their stories with her camera.

Vanessa set up PhotoAid Global to help fuse the two sides that she sees all the time: NGOs and good causes who desperately need money and are always looking for volunteers and supporters but who have amazing assets in the people and on-the-ground knowledge and can broker travel and relationships; and photographers and business people who want to put something back and are at that point in their careers where they want to make a difference.

Her efforts have also inspired the creation of new chapters like the recently founded PhotoAid Greece, pioneered by photographer Giorgos Xirogiannis whose goal is to help and promote 'people who help people' across Greece and to spread the message that in the difficult times that we live only through solidarity to our fellow human beings our society can maintain its cohesion.

Please show them some love and support by following their social media channels:

PhotoAid Global: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

PhotoAid Greece: Facebook

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Take The Blindfold Off

Back when I was growing up in Panama, I lived a very comfortable life. I was brought up in a bubble, and in that bubble, I was made believe that we were better than the rest and that some colours shouldn't mix. And it wasn't until my early twenties, when I moved to Europe and experienced discrimination for the first time, that the blindfold was taken off my eyes. Life gave me one of the biggest lessons I would ever receive.

It's funny because being gay and having come out at such a young age you would imagine that I had experienced discrimination all along. But the truth is that, apart from the expected problems with my parents and the occasional bullying at school, my family and my friends were cool with it, and it was never an issue at university or later at work either. So the first time that I was made aware that my skin tone mattered, that my features stood out, that my accent spoke more than my words and that, apparently, the fact that I was making minimum wage working in a computer warehouse defined me as a human being, I had a reality check that changed my life forever.

Discrimination in some societies is taken so much for granted, especially if you are in a privileged position, that people don't even realize that they are discriminating in the first place. We are brought up with fear and rejection to those who are different because of their origin, their race, their social class, their believes, or whom they love. And that has made us a paranoid species that lives in constant distrust of their surroundings. We have lost the innocence and the beauty of pure human interaction.

Maybe I am too naive, but interacting with others without taboos nor prejudices, with trust and an open heart, is not only a beautiful experience but it makes you gain so much. You learn, you grow, you expand your horizons, and at the same time you teach, you share, and you let others grow with you. I don't want to live in a world where every time that I leave home I have to live in fear, paranoia and distrust of those around me. When I meet someone, I give myself and my trust a 100% and if they lose my trust along the way that is on them, not on me.

It took me going through a very dark moment almost 20 years ago to learn this very valuable lesson. But it doesn't have to be like that for you. You have the power to take that blindfold off yourself. Life is so much happier without it.

Photo credit: self portrait.

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