We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Victor Castro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Victor thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I taught myself photography one summer on a faux La-Z-Boy at the 86th Street Barnes & Noble. After a suicide attempt in college, I spent my outpatient recovery immersing myself in design principles and composition. I devoured books on art history and camera mechanics, and this journey into photography became an essential part of my healing. Besides saving my life, photography became a way to process the pain and events that had left me feeling aimless and disconnected for so long.
I believe that people’s talents and awakenings unfold in their own time. Looking back, I see how working on my self-esteem and consistently challenging myself helped my art flourish. How I saw myself affected my self-worth, which, in turn, affected the opportunities I felt I deserved. Breaking that cycle and stepping into situations where I had to adapt and react quickly transformed me into the best version of myself—both as an artist and a person.
After sixteen years as a freelance photographer, the most essential skills I’ve learned are patience and a reasonable detachment from ego. I’ve learned to be firm with clients while also offering them grace, recognizing that everyone has their own struggles. This balance helped me avoid taking things personally while setting clear boundaries about my work, pricing, and social life.
My biggest obstacle was overcoming the freeze that came when I needed to be assertive or decisive. I had to find my voice and unlearn inherited beliefs that no longer served me. Low self-esteem is devastating, not just to the psyche but especially to creative flow.
Victor, 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?
During the day, I’m a freelance photographer based in the Bronx. At night, I’m a candle magician and energy worker based out of my studio in Dimes Square in lower Manhattan.
I’ve spent sixteen years taking photos in New York City. From shooting campaigns for Microsoft to being an in house fashion photographer for Christian Siriano, I’m happy to say I’ve checked off many personal bucket list items when it’s come to work. Freelancing comes with a price in the long run – whether that’s the unpredictable schedule, perpetually chasing down clients for unpaid invoices, or figuring out how to create passive income to generate the safety net that is often missing from freelance work.
My spiritual path brought me to Chinatown Soup a few years ago. An art collective in the lower east side with a rotating gallery, cafe, and artist residency. From my studio in the basement, I create ritual candles for people of all faiths who are open to the experience (and for those whom this is their practice and way of life). I started Potencia (Spanish for power) not too long before finding my new home at Soup. It’s helped me continue my study of religion and the occult. My ethos was that all personal faiths had a common denominator of prayer. A chant, a hymn, a birthday wish, a spell – different words to the same song. So my resolution in how I affect the world from my little corner is try and help people on their path in connecting to their higher source.
Balancing these two sides of myself helps me stay active creatively and physically. My candles require me to be knowledgeable, spiritually connected and empathetic to the people I’m serving – while photography requires me to be nimble, adaptable and able to create magic out of thin air often times.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Instead of trying to make it big as an artist, work on growing an art collective. I’ve found approaching art from a more grass roots POV and avoiding the mainstream or high end art world is more fulfilling. Make art with friends, forge otherwise unlikely connections with strangers, elevate each other’s work and try to do good.
There’s no better proverb when it comes to this than : “You want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is time. The way I work lets me generate my own schedule while still feeling like I’m enriching other aspects of myself socially and personally. Your art work also becomes this diary of your growth. It’s a physical map of your mind and emotions. Taking inventory of what I’ve accomplished and how much my work has changed is an unmatched feeling.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hivictorcastro.com
- Instagram: @hivictorcastro & @potencia_studio
