We were lucky to catch up with Jorge Parra recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jorge, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How has Covid changed your business model?
I have said in previous interviews for Voyage that my both life and work have gone through massive changes in direction, a true life alchemist, as I started my adult life as a professional with 2 university degrees in Chemistry, working in basic research in Neurochemistry and later in Electrochemistry, and I left behind that life as a scientist to become a Photographer and Visual Artist. A true transformation and reinvention, a real alchemical process. My personal and Fine Art work as a Visual Artist has also been linked to transformations and reinventions, and now, with the massive paralysis introduced by the pandemics last year, and still tinting the new year with slow growth, a new set of alchemical processes, new reinventions are coming my way:

The impossibility of working at the standard Photo Studio facilities, even when the rules and regulations where getting less stringent in time, forced me to develop a remote processes to keep working. Granted, most of the work in my type of images requires of models, hair and make up stylists, assistants, etc, so, doing this type of projects got reduced in number, and it was time to wear many different hats. I put out my experience as a Still Photographer, Food Photographer, Professional Art Reproduction work and Interior Design photography to keep working on those projects while I could get back to my crew and projects involving people.

I confirmed that my home facilities were large enough to still be able to shoot most of those projects, given I have enough space for a small indoor studio, plus a great deal of natural light spaces in a cool nature -filled backyard where different sets can be built, and used for many purposes.

The result of this adaptation was posted as a website that we called At Home Production. The website shows some of the projects shot at-home premises

https://athomeproduction.com

A second project that came out of the lockdown was the implementation of an online store for casual luxury fashion clothes for women, using the images from a ver special Fine Art Project I started in Thailand during a Meditation Retreat, and eventually turned it into a commercial proposal. The result of this new transformation and reinvention is now called Wearable Artifacts and the online store is located at:

https://WearableArtifacts.com

Also, the classical private photography workshops I was running before in person have been switched into online streaming presentations. It was a bit complicated at first, but now I have developed a cool methodology to handle many situations and the students are still having tons of fun while learning the critical processes to become a great creative shooter.

Some things are missing, but all in all, remote work is here to stay and we better adapt, reinvent ourselves and embrace it!

Jorge, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As a Commercial Photographer/ Videographer focused on Marketing and Advertising (meaning, no weddings or social events), I commit my energy to provide visual solutions to help my clients improve the promotion of their own products and services. I focus mostly on the Luxury Markets, but the new realities in the industry have made me expand my range of services, so now I provide both Pre-Production ( Location scouting, Talent casting, permits, etc) as well as Production services ( talent hiring, stylists, models, production assistants, catering, props, etc) and Post-Production services as well ( image retouching, compositing, etc), so my company can be the one-stop-shop for all the needs of a given project.

Of course, some Clients/ Agencies choose to have it all ready and I just show up with my camera, lights and assistants, and that is ok too! Services are provided as needed, as an itemized menu of options.
I am well known in the industry as a people photographer. I have been working with people since my very first days with a camera and I make everyone not only feel comfortable, but I make then look great, confident and empowered, especially since I work most of the time with women, both for my commercial to my fine art projects.

In regards to our online store, we offer UNIQUE prints coming from our Fine Art Images of the Petallika Art Collection, to provide classic designs for swimwear, yoga leggings and sportswear, as well as amazing wetsuits and dresses that may be used both for casual and cocktail situations. This is an exclusive offer for top quality clothes that you can not find anywhere else.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice
I AM ALL FOR NFT’S! This would be my short form statement indeed!

In more detail: I am completely convinced that most artist should start embracing the NFT marketplace as soon as possible.

This is is easier said than done since anyone interested in starting up in this path has to start by embracing and investing in the Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Tezos, Matic, Cardano and Solana, at the very least, and this in itself has learning curve that is still a bit too steep, so I feel this is one of the reasons the NFT marketplace is being inundated more with corporate products ( Disney, Marvel, Nike, Adidas, Movie Companies, Fashion Brands and TONS of icons from the VideoGame industries), but I am confident every artist, photographer, painter, cinematographer, videographer, musicians, actors, you name it, in short, every talented creative should start considering the NFT’s, study the world of cryptos and plan on developing some cool projects to be dropped in the NFT Marketplaces available.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Wow this is going back to basics, but I guess this may help some. I started as a photographer by using the most basics of plastic cameras available to me. As I was working as a Chemist, I was able to afford buying my first professional Canon camera and one lens and I worked with it for a good time, shooting mostly personal projects on locations, to take advantage of the natural light. I had no more lenses or lighting equipment, but I assisted some professional shooters who allowed me to shoot in their studios, right after some photoshoot and some few models accepted to stick around for some minutes to help me build my portfolio. Those same photographers eventually let me use their lighting equipment on my own and they also told me: pay it forward!! and I have done it: each and every assistant I have had has been granted access to my equipments, studios and models so they can move forward in their careers.
So I would say, this was more of an organic way to start and grow my business, learning in the process and committing to pay forward all the help I received to startup. Later on, with commercial projects pouring in, I started buying my own equipments and building a business in a more formal way, but it was all paid up from the money I was receiving from my work, not from loans or credit lines. I feel many people are hesitant to try that approach but I still encourage the brave at heart and those with total, real confidence in themselves and what they are doing to follow this road… I self-funded my growth, but I know there are now more ways to get financial help if you need to go that way for a well-defined proposal that involves more than you can afford with your own means.  The crypto/decentralized markets are offering new and enticing opportunities here just as well!

Whether you fund yourself or get financial help from outside, in both instances you will feel some level of ticking fear, but I always remember someone who said something like: ” if you feel fear, most likely you are in the right path” so it is never easy-going, you need to place yourself outside your comfort zone for way much longer than you wanted or expected, so what??

Contact Info:

• Website: https://JorgeParraPhotography.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jorgeparraphotography
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/jorgeparraphotography
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FIneArtKrypto
• Other:  https://WearableArtifacts.com
•  https://AthomeProduction.com
• https://TheArtoftheBody.com

Image Credits
All Photos Copyright: Jorge Parra