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

Alright, Miguel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I would say the most important and personal project I’ve ever done was The Tale of Riley Escobar Trilogy. When we did the first part, it was originally conceived as a test run for a film stock I haven’t shot before. Me and my friend Antione Robinson (Riley Escobar) simply went around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor taking pictures and playing off his rapper/producer persona. When I eventually saw the pictures and reflected on the experience, I realized that we were able to piece a special story about Escobar and the city he calls home, and over time I was able to expand the project in ways that felt multi-faceted but ultimately cohesive.

The Riley Escobar Trilogy was a special project because it came at a time when I was experiencing some heavy baggage from the cosplay community, and I wanted to trace back to my roots doing street photography to reinvigorate my creative drive. This series essentially established the core foundation for my approach in photography, in which I capture my subjects in their most candid and honest depictions with a dash of environmental storytelling. With every installment of the trilogy, I came back not only with a better sense of how to tell a narrative but with more confidence in tackling projects outside of my comfort zone without the pressure of expectations.

Miguel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Miguel Almario, and I am a photographer and aspiring filmmaker based in Baltimore, Maryland. I primarily shoot portraiture and street work on film, but I have also dabbled in other genres such as cosplay, landscape, and more conceptual works.

What I feel makes my work unique is the direction I take with each of the projects I undertake and how I interact with my subjects and their surroundings to make a greater whole.

I watch a lot of movies and I try to take away the important aspects of visual storytelling and cinematography to translate them into my photography sets. One of those aspects is the relationship between the subject and the space in which they’re a part of and how they interact in that sphere. I’m very particular with how I pick my locations based on what I’m shooting because I want those spots to feel like their own character and compliment the subjects I’m capturing.

I also encourage the people in front of the camera to show off their authentic selves regardless of whether they’re doing cosplay, fashion, or something candid. I believe that the best photos are the ones that have a genuine feeling behind them; anything that comes across as artificial or soulless simply takes me out of the immersion that I’m trying to build in my pictures. It’s why all my shoots often feel informal; I want to foster an environment where everyone can improvise, collaborate, and showcase their own talents while staying true to the stories we both want to tell.

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

The biggest mindset I had to personally let go of was the idea that Miguel the Analog Guy is strictly a cosplay photographer. Ever since I did Part I of The Tale of Riley Escobar, I felt more confident in doing projects that were outside of cosplay. The non-cosplay projects allowed me to breathe more, take risks, and learn more about what I ultimately want in my creative pursuits because I knew that I wasn’t going to stick around doing cosplay photography in the long run.

I think this year saw the biggest shift in the direction of my craft. I’ve been finding myself doing more fashion and street photography, as well as conducting my own original concept shoots. My experience working with cosplayers is invaluable, but it does feel liberating to break free and experiment with other fields and techniques after four years in the genre.

My friend once told me that it’s important to make what I want to make. Ultimately, I would regret not having to make something for myself over what others wanted.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I would like to address two audiences: the general public and my fellow creatives.

The best thing that the general public could do to support us is to share our work and put us out there. Getting our projects to a wider audience will help us go a long way. Sharing our photos and referencing us will net us potential connections that could help us thrive and succeed in the long run.

For my fellow creatives, I have three tips of advice:

Always express gratitude for the support you’ve been given and invest in the connections that share a genuine interest in your work.

Keep the connections that stayed with you along the way even if you decide to switch gears. Don’t make the same mistake I did and try to let go of some people out of wanting to disassociate with a community you don’t resonate with anymore.

Be the person to offer a helping hand if someone needs assistance in a project, whether it be giving sound advice or physically aiding in their projects.

Most importantly, be excellent to each other. Regardless of years of experience, people will still make mistakes (myself included) and the last thing any creatives would like to face is toxicity and jealousy in the face of their journey. Keep true to yourself while also respecting the paths of others, because we’re all here to do the same thing: to create and express ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: migueltheanalogguy.com
• Instagram: miguel_the_analog_guy
• Facebook: facebook.com/migueltheanalogguy

Image Credits
Antione Robinson – @riley_escoescobar Ellocentric – @ellocentric Kaitlyn Vaitl – @dolly_doki Khalil Campbell – @musical_architect125 Layla Angelica Lockhart – @kutiekittenxo Larvel Freeman – @larvellfreeman Rebecca Chen – @rebebechen Taylor Korzeniewski – @thewnk