We recently connected with Ricardo Diaz and have shared our conversation below.
Ricardo, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My parents fled to Miami from Venezuela in a heartfelt move to give us a chance at a better life in the United States. It wasn’t easy figuring out life in a new foreign country as immigrant parents, but they still managed to be incredible parents. The most important thing they did right was allow me to dream. And they not only allowed me to, but pushed me to dream bigger. My hopes and aspirations were always given center stage by them, they would constantly give me reaffirmations, assuring me that I could do anything I set my mind to. They also went out of their way to help my dreams come to life, whether it was my mom driving me to South Beach in the middle of a school day for a commercial casting or my dad flying across California to make it to my very first gallery opening. My parents showed up, and they helped, and they taught me how to believe in myself. I wouldn’t trade my parents for the world.
Ricardo, 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?
I was born in Valencia, Venezuela and raised in Miami, Florida. From a young age, I was drawn to theatre and the arts. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school when I took an AP Photography course for the extra AP credit that I developed my love for capturing images. After then, I strengthened my conviction through art classes while doing my undergrad at Princeton University, learning under the likes of Jane Cox for lighting design, Tim Vasen for acting, and Joe Scanlan for art theory.
My actual career developed much more so in Los Angeles, where I found my first subjects through VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race. I fell in love with the world of drag and transformation as I had grown to become a chameleon as a queer Latino growing up in Florida had to do.
My work champions artists through a queer lens, capturing images as if they were stills in an ongoing film. I have a flair for the dramatics and enjoy storyboarding ahead of shoots to ensure that the images will hold the meaning I want to imbue within it.
I am most proud of having collaborated with artists that I hold dear to my heart, and I am most excited for the journey that lies ahead. You won’t believe who else is yet to sit in front of my camera, keep an eye out!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission has been and continues to be in the service of others. There is so much beauty and power in devoting oneself to the betterment of others. In photography, most of the work is selfless by design: we photographers are perched behind the camera, outside of view, with a sole purpose to capture our subjects in their very best light.
I want to go beyond just making my subjects look great, and relaying messages of hope, change, and splashes of bitter reality mixed in between.
My images are love letters to queer people around the world, especially those dealing with mental health issues as I have with Bipolar Type 1 disorder. My goal is to tell our stories, so other humans just like me can keep their chin up and take it just one day at a time.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
My journey was far from linear. It’s been very messy, chaotic at times, and consistently fluctuating. Working in the creative fields is forgoing a structured consistency, the idea of a 9 to 5 most times goes right out the window and you’re thrown into 13 hectic back to back production days that are 13 hours long only to then go 2 months without any work. Most times you have to figure out for yourself everything that a corporate job might do for you like healthcare, 401Ks, taxes, retirement, etc. It’s not an easy nor comfortable journey. I always joke that you have to be crazy to do this because you kind of do. It’s not for everyone, but I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
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Image Credits
Dillon Lowery Chrisse Berry Madison Reaich Moises Nava Jaida Essence Hall Niohuru X