Since I was 13 years old I had a necesity to learn photography and discover how the people could make the “bokeh effect” or a blur in photos. When I was on High School I broke up with my boyfriend on my last year of school, so I wanted to be busy, distracted, learn new things.
I went to my first photography course on the Photographic Center “Manuel Alvarez Bravo” with a second hand camera that I did not have idea how to use it. My teacher wrote on the board numbers and “steps” of photography, the triangle of the photo -ISO, diaphragm and shutter speed- and many things that I associated with physics and mathematics, maybe because I was tired of school.
Finally my teacher took us to a traditional market of Oaxaca, the “Morelos” market, to practice what we had learned, and the activity was to take photos of what we think was interesting, and the only thing that I learned well was the panning photography. That was my first favorite effect or way to do photography, I really enjoyed it.
That experience helped me to begin my photography story, but I took time to resume activity.
Then I enter the University. I decided to study International Relations, but in my city, Oaxaca the carrer was not available so I moved to Puebla City, a place that is 4 hours from my house. I made friends, I wanted to know a lot of spaces, and I took photographs of the places; I met museums, markets, restaurants, parks, everything. I began to create a lot of photos. It motivated me to look for some platforms for share my photographs and my opinions. I found Google Maps and I loved that not only I share photos, I can also write reviews and I can say what I think about a place.
In the course of time, automatically I began to put out my camera and take photographs about the places where I go in Puebla.
Sometimes I visited Oaxaca, and I got back to my boyfriend, this things just happen, right? I wanted to be tourist on my own state, with him. I learned and I showed him my favorite places and we created special connection on there. He supported me when I needed to take photographs of somewhere.
I thought: “I have the best of both worlds, I can explore Puebla and Oaxaca, It is fantastic!” It is special for me, because I can recommend a place, maybe a market or a town that I think no one visit, but when I see how many people watch my review or my photographs, I feel so good because I know I am helpful for someone else, not for one, I had been useful for up to half a million people, that is amazing!
I am not more with him, he is not more in my life, but he was my partner on this adventure. But I realized that I can know, walk, travel, discover by my own. I can do it alone, I can explore, I can go everywhere, and maybe on this adventure I find someone with the same interest, the same passion, meanwhile I will continue enjoying, because being a Local Guide is an important part of my life.
Everything in life is about decisitions, changes, and express what you think and what you see. That’s why I enjoy to write here, share my photos and my feelings when I give a review of a place, because that make me feel happy and make me feel alive.
