Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adriana Carbajal. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Adriana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

This is a big question that I’m going to force myself to answer, because I’ve been thinking about legacies and the mark we leave on the world and in our communities a lot lately.

My hope is to build a legacy based on authenticity and empowerment. In my photography, I get to help tell vibrant stories of humanity – whether it be through portraits or a professional wrestling event. I want to meet people where they are at in that moment in time and help them tell their own story so that they can look back and have a sense of pride in who they were and who they are becoming.

As a kid, I always adored looking at the photos on display in my great-grandma’s house. I’d ask her, or whichever adult was available, who the people in the photos were, how old they were, where the photograph was taken. I wanted to know the stories behind the images and what the history of our family and friends was. It has become so important to me as an adult to make sure the value of printed photographs isn’t lost. When I have kids, and even when I have the honor of becoming an auntie, I want those children to have the same opportunity to be curious about their loved ones and their ancestors.

I hope to be remembered as a storyteller, despite the fact that my stories are not usually written and that I am not the most well-spoken person. I hope that people are able to enjoy the photographs I’ve taken of them and of their loved ones for years to come. And I hope to be remembered for my deep love for humanity.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Of course! Hi, my name is Adriana, and I go by Ana for short.

I’m proudly from Greeley, Colorado, and I have loved documenting people and places for as long as I can remember. My mom gave me my first camera and photo album when I was quite small and they were Hello Kitty themed. I used up that roll of film and the spaces in that album on a fun day on my great-grandparents property behind Devil’s Backbone in Loveland, Colorado, capturing things like coyote footprints that my grandma had pointed out while we were on a walk, and my baby brother playing on the porch.

Now, as an adult with an actual photography business, I offer portrait and headshot services, as well as professional wrestling event photography. My style of photography is vibrant and fun, and I aim to capture the people in front of me with authenticity. In my portrait work, my focus is on empowering women and LGBTQ+ individuals, and providing families and couples with beautiful images that honestly capture their love. I firmly believe that everyone should have a flattering headshot that they are proud to share and makes them feel confident. Working closely with my clients to ensure I am capturing them accurately through my lens is very important to me. I started offering beautiful Heirloom Print Collections this year, and I am so excited to begin sharing these products with my clients to elevate their experience.

In my work with pro wrestling and lucha libre, I aim to capture the story being told by the wrestlers and their audience. Wrestlers are incredible athletes and storytelling is so important in their work. I thoroughly enjoy bringing out the colors, emotions, and diversity that exists in the world of professional wrestling. I ended up working alongside the industry two years ago because a guy I had recently started dating was a luchador and he asked me to be a photographer at a Special Olympics benefit show in Dodge City, Kansas that was being put on by Mid-States Wrestling. That luchador and I have been in a relationship for two years now, and this niche in photography that I was positive would be a one-off has become a passion I never expected to have.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The beautiful relationships that can come out of being an artist and a creative are the most rewarding thing to me. I’ve met some amazing people simply because I’m in a creative field, and I wouldn’t change that for the world.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve had to unlearn the narrative of being a starving artist. We’re fed a lot of bs about how you can’t make it in a creative field without it being one of a tragic passion. Our skills as artists are invaluable, and you can see it everywhere. Visual marketing is vital for businesses to survive, and documentation is necessary for historical records – whether it’s a personal familial history or the grander scale of world history. Art gives future generations a peek into the past and allows for cultural and personal context. I’m still working on growing my business to be one that can be sustained without me working as an employee elsewhere, but that is true for any entrepreneur. Artists aren’t the only ones who face the trials and tribulations of running a business, and yet that starving artist stereotype is still deeply engrained in our society.

That terrible narrative led me to a dark point in my early twenties where I really thought that as an artist, as a creative person, my only option was to be a sad, lonely artist who definitely did not eat enough to sustain my body or mind. I fell into all of that despite having supportive parents, grandparents, and friends. The mindset shift away from such a negative narrative is so vital to building trust within ourselves and our communities.

Art is valuable, and the human beings who create art are vital to humanity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://anacarbajalphotography.mypixieset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anacarbajalphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anacarbajalphoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriana-carbajal-wicker-07345b231/

Image Credits

All images were shot and provided by Ana Carbajal Photography.