A Spirit Toward Photography (Re) Awakened

“Millo Salgado: A Spirit Toward Photography (Re) Awakened” by BP (Eng/Spa Translation by Bridgette)

Juxt Rewind:  Originally posted on March 28, 2012

BP’s Introduction

I’ve recently had the honor of interviewing Millo Salgado for feature on the We Are Juxt blog.  Let me tell you about the how I stumbled upon his feed.  When I first started out on Instagram there were many folks who I saw on IG that blew my mind.  A lot of the time when I tried to interact with the artist it left with no response.  Millo on the other hand is one of the nicest, dopest photographers on IG.  He was always very appreciative and provided a lot of support to me. To be quite honest, I was floored when he started to follow me.  I was starstruck.  Here was Millo who had amazing work, humble in his approach and return and still had time to comment and tell me exactly why he like my work. STARSTRUCK.  He was my first IG “celebrity” (in my mind) who actually cared about the art and the artist.  Since then there have been 10′s and 100′s of folks.

He was real open to having an interview and I was ecstatic.  He already had coordinated two books of IG artists to be published and had numerous interviews floating around.  I told him I wanted to be a bit different in my approach and asked him to respond to me in Spanish – his native tongue.  He totally loved the idea.  I enlisted the help of fellow Juxter, Bridgette S., to help in the translation.  B – you already know how much I feel you’ve done for the community, and now, I totally thank you for doing your part with this interview.

Community, I introduce you to Millo Salgado and continue with We Are Juxt’s WEEK OF HIPSTAMATIC!

B: BP  M: Millo 

B:   What would you like to tell us about yourself?  What do you do in “real” life? How does this affect your art, both good and bad?

M:  Soy arquitecto, así que soy muy visual. Lo raro es que no encuentro la arquitectura en mis fotos! Quizá es que la fotografía es un escape de mi día a día, un camino para ir al encuentro de otros mundos quizá.

I’m an architect, so am very visual.  The odd thing is that I don’t find architecture in my photos!  Suppose my photography is an escape from my every day life, a path to discover other worlds, perhaps.

B:   Your subjects in your images have been family.  What can you tell us about your family outside of the images you publish?

M:  Vaya que mis hijos están cansandos de tanta foto que les tomo jajaja! Soy muy familiar. Tengo muchos hobbies personales además de mi trabajo: La fotografía por supuesto, y jugar al fútbol en una liga local o poker; también la música. Así que una parte de mi hace eso pero el resto lo único que quiere es estar en casa o junto a mi esposa Itxel y mis niños Sebastián, que tiene 7 años, y Emilia, que tiene 3. Vamos al mar cada vez que se puede, a veces con mis sobrinos. Son felices ahí, como su papá

Well, my children are tired of so many photos I take of them haha!  I’m a family man.  I have many personal hobbies aside from my work: photography of course, I play futbol/soccer in a local league or poker and music.  So part of me does all that but the other only wants to be home with my wife Itxel and my children Sebastian, who is 7 years old, and Emilia, who is 3.  We go to the sea as much as we can, and sometimes with my nieces/nephews.  They are happy there, like their father

B:   I’m curious to what catches your eye and how you view the world.  If you were to describe to the readers what your message is in your art, what would that be?

M:  Lo que más me llama la atención son las personas, especialmente los niños, y por supuesto especialmente en el mar. El mar y todo lo que le rodea es vida, alegría. Mi mensaje es: hay que estar felices por el simple hecho de estar vivos. Aún en estos tiempos convulsos, si mis fotos les hacen olvidar por un momento las penas de este mundo, los malos ratos, entonces yo estoy contento.

What draws my attention most are people, especially children and, of course, the sea.  The sea and all that surrounds it is life, happiness.  My message is: we must be happy for the simple fact of being alive.  Even in these turbulent times, if my photos have made you forget for a moment the sorrows of this world, the bad times, then I am happy.

B:   Hipstamatic is your app of choice. For those of us who do not use Hipstamatic, what is it about the app that you love?  What are your suggestions for making it better?

M:  Hipstamatic tiene una relación de amor eterno con el agua y con el sol que no tiene ninguna otra cámara, especialmente el lente John S y por supuesto usando película Ina’s. Es como si quitara ciertas capas de la fotografía y dejara los colores al desnudo, completamente crudos, extraordinariamente brillantes. A mi me basta la Hipstamatic así como está, quizá desearía tomar más de 9 fotos en el modo de calidad alto, pero siempre prefiero la calidad antes que la cantidad.

Hipstamatic has an eternal, loving relationship with the sea and sun that no other camera has, especially the JohnS lens and of course the Ina’s film.  It’s as if you were to take away certain layers of photography and are then left with bare colors, completely raw and extraordinarily brilliant. In my opinion, Hipstamatic is great the way it is now, perhaps wishing to take more than 9 photos in high quality, but I always prefer quality over quantity.

B:   You have an incredible body of work.  Can you share with us some of the series of images you have? 

M:  Puedes ver la felicidad alrededor? Lo sientes?  Quiero que la gente sean parte de este ambiente, ir dentro de él y lean los cuentos, no importa en qué parte del mundo estás, la felicidad es universal, la vida es universal, partenece a todos y todos lo tiene… olvida lo desafortunado y usted hará mi diá.

Can you see the happiness around? Can you feel it? I want people to become part of this atmosphere, to go inside of it and read the stories, ti doesn’t matter what part of the world you are, happiness is universal, life is universal, it belongs to everyone and everyone has it… Forget the unfortunate and you will make my day.

 One day I took my iPhone into the sea with me, and that was it. I can’t stop doing it. One day I got a waterproof case but the shots were all blur, so I still don’t use one, just the iPhone and my luck, watching out the waves while I’m taking this kind of shots. I love when the sea and sky melt.

During two weeks in february there is this festival called Fiestas Charrotaurinas here in Villa de Alvarez, which it’s a city next to Colima, so my City appears to be bigger but it’s two cities one next to another. All days during this two weeks, at 12 pm, a horse parade leaves Cathedral, downtown Colima, and they go to La Petatera, the plaza de toros in Villa de Alvarez, as they have been doing this since 100 years ago. Everybody is riding a horse, and then in the afternoon the bullfights. So, in this school were my kids are, they celebrate one day this festival, all children dressed like bulls, horses, charros, clowns, mojigangos and matadors, full of color. It’s beautiful.

Again at sea level. I took this shot of my kid while he was relaxing floating in the ocean, feeling the sun in his happy face. I can see a couple of angels wings in the water.

A couple of lovers were at the sea, and she was looking for protection, a wave is coming! she said, and he took her with his arms, with love and comprehension, and she was safe, but didn’t want to go further into the ocean…

B:   You have organized a few publications including some of the world’s amazing mobile photographers.  Can you tell us more about those projects and how did they come into fruition?  How well have they been received? Do you have plans for further publications? 

M:  Fue una aventura fantástica! Yo había hecho uno de mis hijos en el web site, y me había gustado todo el concepto de tener tus fotos en un libro en vez del clásico álbum de fotos. Al mismo tiempo empezaba a cultivar amistades increíbles en IG, porque realmente he hecho unos amigos fantásticos. Empecé intercambiando trabajos con ellos, fotos que me gustaban, ellos escogían una mía y así. Entonces, al ver la carpeta de fotos de todas estas personas entusiastas, y ver el libro de mis niños, me dije “que tal si…”. Y así nació. El primer libro no tenía un tema definido, eran tres o cuatro fotos de instagramers. Lo único que traté fue darle un cierto ritmo al libro. En el segundo, a sugerencia de Dimitris Karathanos, se publicaron series de fotos. Los dos libros han girado alrededor de la fotografía móvil por supuesto, pero también han sido una oda a la amistad, a la fraternidad entre personas de distintos lugares alrededor del mundo. Porque al final así debería de ser el mundo, es un solo planeta para todos y a todos nos pertenece y todos deberíamos de ser amigos en las buenas y en las malas y sin importar nada más. No hay barreras, las señas son universales!

Para planes futuros, desgraciadamente (y afortunadamente también) no tengo tiempo de nada por mi trabajo. Había hablado con @croyable y con @gutoroberts sobre un libro de campos, tienen fotos bellísimas sobre este tema, además de otras que he visto por ahí. Campos de maíz, montañas, ríos. Ojalá algún día pueda hacerlo!

It was a fantastic adventure.  I made one of my children on the web site, and liked the concept of having all the photos in a book instead of a classic photo album.  At the same time, I began to grow incredible friendships on IG, because in reality I have made fantastic friends.  I began exchanging works with them, photos that I liked of theirs; they picked one of mine, in this manner.  So then, after seeing all the photo collections of all these enthusiasts, and seeing my children’s book, I said to myself “what if…” and that’s how it came to be.

The first book didn’t have a defined theme; it was comprised of three or four of instagramers’ photos.  The only thing I tried to do was to give the book a certain rhythm.  In the second one, as suggested by Dimitris Karathanos, we published a series of photos.  Both books are directed around mobile photography of course, but have also been an ode to friendship, to the fraternity between people of distinct places all over the world.  Because in the end, this is the way the world should be, it’s one planet for all and it belongs to all of us and we should all be friends with the good and with the bad regardless of anything else.  There are no barriers – the signs are universal!

As for future plans, unfortunately, I don’t have enough time due to my work.  I have spoken with @croyable and with @gutoroberts regarding a book about the countryside; they have beautiful photos with this theme, as well as others I have seen – cornfields, mountains, rivers.  Hopefully one day I’ll be able to do it!

B:   Can you tell us a bit more about your personal experience on photo social networks such as Instagram?  What do you love about it? What do you not like about it?

M:  Bueno ya lo dije un poco en la pregunta anterior, lo que más me ha gustado han sido los amigos que he hecho y que realmente espero ver algún día, estrechar sus manos, tomarme una cerveza con ellos. Y el hecho que todo gire en torno a la fotografía, bueno pues es genial. Creo que entre más crece hay más cantidad de fotos que calidad de fotos, muchas personas pidiendo que las sigan y ese tipo de cosas que bueno no soy nadie para juzgar si está bien o está mal, pero a mi en lo personal no me gusta. Es inevitable, pero me reconforta pensar que el día que diga “ya no más”, me voy a quedar con una cantidad de amigos de todas partes del mundo extraordinaria, y eso sí es para siempre.

Well, I have responded to some of this in my previous answer, what I have liked the most have been the friendships I have made and I really hope that one day I can shake their hands and have a beer with them, and that all of this is centered on photography is brilliant.

Think that as much as it grows, there is more quantity than quality of photos, many people asking to follow them and these types of things, which I’m not one to judge or say if it’s right or wrong, but to me personally I don’t like.  It is inevitable but I comfort myself in thinking that the day I decide “no more”, I will be left with an abundance of friendships from all parts of the extraordinary world, and that is forever.

B:   Millo, you are a well-respected mobile photographer/ photographer.  What do you prefer to shoot with and tell us about how has your iPhone influenced your work?

M:  Muchas gracias Brad! Wow! Tengo predilección por todo! Es decir, disfruto igual usar mi DSLR que mi iPhone o que la GoPro, al final todas son cámaras. Pero definitivamente la Hipstamatic siempre está lista en la playa, igual que la GoPro, y en la ciudad uso mucho más mi Canon. Lo que me gusta del iPhone es que es mucho más discreto, puedes pasar mas desapercibido, y el formato cuadrado es una maravilla! Tengo una Yashica de 120mm pero desgraciadamente no la uso ya mucho porque no hay laboratorios que revelen mis películas y mucho menos que las impriman, así que por eso estoy tan contento con la Hipstamatic Y es a IG y al iPhone que me volvió a nacer el espíritu de la fotografía, junto con mis hijos, porque lo tenía medio dormido a decir verdad. Así que estoy agradecido para siempre con esto!

Many thanks, Brad!  Wow!  I have a preference for all!  As to say, I enjoy using my DSLR as much as my iPhone or my GoPro; in the end they’re all cameras.  But Hipstamatic is definitely ready to go on the beach, same as GoPro, and in the city I use my Canon a lot more.  What I like about the iPhone is that it’s much more discreet, you can go unnoticed, and the square format is marvelous!  I have a 120mm Yashica but unfortunately I don’t use it much because there aren’t any labs that develop the film and even less that print them, this is why I’m happy with Hipstamatic And it is because of IG and the iPhone that my spirit toward photography reawakened, together with my children, because truthfully it was half asleep.  So I will always be grateful for this!

B:   Lastly, where do you see the future of mobile photography?

M:  Espero que sea valorado y reconocido como fotografía pura, como cualquier cámara. Lo que importa es la foto, la belleza de una imagen, no importa con qué fue capturada, no importa si no puedes imprimirla en tamaño grande. Una bella imagen queda ahí para siempre.

I hope that it will be valued and recognized as a pure form of photography, like any other camera.  What matters is the photo and the beauty of the image, it doesn’t matter what it was captured with; it doesn’t matter if it cannot be printed in a large size.  A beautiful photo stays there forever.

B:   One more, question…where else in the world would you like to shoot and why?

M:  Esto es muy difícil. Sin dudarlo digo que en otras playas, en otros países, pero no te podría decir en cual. Ojalá algún día pueda hacer un libro de playas del mundo! Me gustaría regresar a Europa ahora con mi iPhone. Me gustaría la India, creo que, al igual que mi país, es un lugar en donde los colores explotan, y me gustaría estar ahí para capturarlos.

This is very difficult.  Without a doubt in other beaches, in other countries, but I can’t tell you where.  I hope that one day I can create a book with all the beaches of the world!  I would like to return to Europe now with my iPhone.  Would like to visit India, I imagine that just like my own country, it is one where colors explode, and I would like to be there to capture them.

Juxt thanks you for your words and your art.

Contact Information for Millo Salgado

Millo Salgado on Facebook
Millo Salgado on 500px
Millo Salgado on flickr or http://www.flickr.com/photos/millosalgado/
And http://millosalgado.tumblr.com/