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

Jose, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Art is all about risks. It’s about whether you’re willing to share a certain aspect of yourself or not. Every time I take a photo, I take a risk. It’s always between two questions, “Will the audience like it, or do I like it?” But I always stick to the second option. I think it’s crucial to stick to who you are as an artist. I do what I do because I love the craft, I love doing what I do and I’m not doing it for gain. My art is not about doing it to attract people, it’s to make genuine art, and people like it because it’s authentic. I think genuinely liking your craft and doing it for yourself is such an important risk to take as an artist, making art that’s true to you and who you are shines through in the final outcome.

Jose, 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?

My name is Jose Zaragoza. I’m a photographer/ creative director, but I really just love to do anything creative! I’ve always been into art, but I’ve always had a passion for photography from a very young age. My mom always carried a camera with her, and through watching all of my childhood tapes and pictures grew my passion for photography and film. I began taking photos of whatever I felt was a “cool vibe”. I have always been very inspired by my childhood and my culture, so all of my work reflects that, I make sure of it especially because I am so proud of my heritage. From this passion for art, I grew a love towards everything artistic, whether it was music or editing videos, I learned a lot on my own! Now, I love making short videos to accompany my photo shoots, and oftentimes make a story specifically for videos. I also love to create a world, so I’m also great at creative direction! I think what sets me apart is my commitment to staying true to myself. There are many projects I have had to pass up because they simply didn’t align with me as a person, whether it be stylistically or story-driven. I think the most important part of what I do is to make sure that there’s love there. The love that you have for a project truly reflects on the final product. I think my art is so true to myself and so specific to me because I strive to remain authentic to myself and my goals.
My proudest achievement doing photography is the community that I have built along the way. My main goal with photography was always to love, whether it self-love or the love of art, I have always cared more about that than anything else. I have built such an amazing community of friends and family who have shown me nothing but genuine kindness and support, and I strive to do the same for them!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My main goal in my creative journey has always been to build a community that helps those around me realize their full potential. To be able to tell all those little me’s that it is possible to follow your passion and be successful. Growing up, I would always hear from people around me that I could only succeed if I was a teacher, or a doctor, basically only essential jobs is what they meant. That wasn’t true though, I always followed my passion, and thanks to the support of my loved ones, especially my mom, I have been able to come so far. I always wish that I could go back and tell my younger self how far I’ve come, but now that I’ve done so, I can do the same for all those other kids who want to follow their passion but feel they can’t. I want them to feel safe following their dreams and know that there is a loving community for them.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

One of the things that was most important about growing my audience on social media was to strictly stick to what I wanted to do, and not what was popular. You can always grow by following trends every time a different one arises, but true growth comes from building an audience that follows you because of who YOU are as a creator. Trends are followed by everyone, but not everyone can be a unique creator. I think that’s what people look for when they follow someone, if you’re different than everybody else and if you’re doing something true to you! Especially because you really get to build a community of people who share not only the same interests but also the same struggles. It truly becomes an amazing community!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @joesasylum

Image Credits
Photography and editing by me, @joesasylum. Lighting and assistance by Dominick Gonzalez, Yaretzi Perez, Rita Ornelas, and Cristabel Puga