D&B: Where are you from?
CAM: I was born and raised in Mexico City. I have been living and working between NYC and Mexico City for the last two years.
D&B: What kind of photography do you shoot and how did you get started - any "formal" training?
CAM: I am into documentary photography, mainly portraiture. I started taking some workshops and working as an assistant. I am currently doing an MFA at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.
D&B: What cameras or techniques do you use?
CAM: Mamiya 645 - this camera has the right size to fit in a regular backpack or messenger bag so i’m able take it anywhere. I have been working with it for the last 12 years and it makes the work everytime. By the way, I love film.
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| "Ramon" Copyright Carlos Alvarez Montero |
D&B: Who are your mentors (in photography)?
CAM: I could say my mentors are my first photo teacher Saul Serrano and the photographer I used to assist, Edgar Ladrón de Guevara, I learned a lot with them, not just about photography itself but also that it wasn’t an easy road but that it was worth taking.
D&B: When did you realize you could have a career in photography? Describe your journey towards becoming a working photographer.
CAM: Since I entered into my first photography workshop at the age of 19, I knew I wanted to live from photography. I didn’t know about the difficulties or anything, I just knew that was what I wanted to do. After like a year of doing workshops I started working as an assistant for an advertising photographer. Everything happened very natural, one day I was assisting, the next I was published in magazines.
D&B: What do you hope to achieve with your photography?
CAM: I use photography as a way to have access to worlds that intrigue me. I hope I can share with others through my images what I learn about them.
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| "Little Saint Jude" Copyright Carlos Alvarez Montero |
D&B: What's your dream photography project?
CAM: I don’t really have a dream project, I am currently working in three projects that i would like to finish by the next year (that’s my dream), one is a book about my series "adopt & adapt" about the creation of identity through the construction of the appearance, the other is a book of portraits of Mexican guitarists, and the third is a film documentary called M (of Michoacan) about the gang culture in a small town in Michoacan, Mexico which started as a photo series and then turned into a film.
D&B: What's the biggest (life) lesson you've learned through photography?
CAM: Everytime I shoot is a lesson, I try to learn as much as I can from all my subjects.
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