Today we’d like to introduce you to Kymberly Gonzalez.
Hi Kymberly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I caught interest in taking photos when I was really young. I was about 14 years old when I would try to take creative pictures for my myspace profile pictures at the time. I just wanted to have the coolest “scene kid” profile picture. Lol, I can remember spending hours trying to take pictures of my band t-shirts in weird poses.
I would edit my pictures on a website called “Ribbet.” Lol. My aunt who lived in Colorado and took pictures for the newspaper at the time called me and asked me if I had taken interest in photography. I really had no idea what it was and she briefly explained and told me “I’m telling you because I’ve been paying attention to your stuff and you have a great eye. I’m going to send you a camera play around with it and see if you enjoy it.”
Once I got the camera, I was hooked. I just took pictures of everything and everything. I was really young so it was kind of just a fun hobby for me at the time. It wasn’t until I was around 20 that I started to see it as something more than just a hobby for me. I’m a self-taught photographer. When I was younger, I didn’t know about tutorials on YouTube I’m not too sure if there was much around.
I learned through trial and error, playing around with the camera and learning how to edit just by going one by one through settings and seeing what they could do to the pictures. As I got older, I would watch videos and practice how to work on tones. I’m not an expert but I know how to make my work come alive. I never knew I was actually an artist until I took it seriously.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not. I was very discouraged by a lot of my family because it wouldn’t make me “successful” meaning they didn’t want me to be a starving artist and work towards something more financially stable. Being an artist, especially around a lot of traditional Hispanics born into poverty it wasn’t really praised.
They wanted us to work and make money to be able to live a comfortable life. That was very discouraging for me because I felt like nobody really cared about what I was passionate about. Along my journey, I realized that set me back a lot throughout the years.
I’m extremely grateful for my one aunt who did though if it wasn’t for her, I would’ve probably wasted away my talent. Also, there were times when I felt a lot of intimidation. As if I should know more or I wasn’t taken seriously at times. I’ve learned to just keep the flow going the more I create the more I grow.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in low-light photography. I’m known for my moody, dark, but vivid tones. As well as my landscape photos. As of lately, I have been dabbling into cars and doing more street photography.
I’m proud of my ability to take a simple picture and give it life. I can always find a way to make a boring picture look good. I think what sets me apart from others is that I like to switch up my work.
I like shooting all different types of subjects. I think it’s more common now to stick to themes. I like to create and try new things as much as I can when I can and wherever I can.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was kind of troubled. I hung out with a bad crowd from my neighborhood and got into a lot of trouble. I calmed down after I hit my later high school years.
After that, I stayed to myself. I was really into music. I fell in love with live music. I found that shows kept me from getting myself in trouble. I had a wide range in my taste in music.
I was always at shows any chance I could I would be at a show. In fact, when I picked up a camera and started taking things more seriously, I started shooting live local shows.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://500px.com/p/kymagery?view=photos
- Instagram: Instagram.com/kymagery
