We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Victor Perez Carrillo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Victor, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The story behind my mission
At first, this was more of a passion for learning more about wildlife than a mission. Ever since I first set foot in Montana I fell in love with its nature, I become passionate about learning about wildlife and taking pictures through my binoculars of every bird I saw, each picture had a detailed report of the species and in some cases a drawing! I was so eager to learn and study this beautiful creature. As I moved on to high school I met Mr. Umphrey he was the English and journalism teacher there, we talked and seemed to share the same passion for wildlife, so I would stop by his classroom to show him pictures of the birds I had seen the days before and share stories, he was retiring that year so I couldn’t take his course however he allowed me to borrow a school camera which was my first digital camera, a Nikon D3500 with a 75-300 mm lens. This was the start of what would become my mission. I have never taken a digital photography course so I spent weeks reading the manual and watching videos after the summer passed I was getting better, however, my lens wasn’t long enough to capture close-up moments of nature so I decided to improvise and bought myself a Ghillie suit (camouflage) and that’s when it all started, to this day I see an animal and I will low crawl till I’m next to him or Sometimes I just wait in fields for 3 to 5 hours till something comes by, most of the time I see nothing, but I found out patients is a must in this field and always being ready with your camera! After many months of practicing with the camera, I became addicted to the feeling of capturing split-second moments in pictures. COVID-19 hit and I was fortunate enough that my passion involved being alone and separated from others, however, I began thinking what if I could bring nature to those who didn’t have the same luck as I did?
That’s when my mission of spreading my love for wildlife and nature and helping bring awareness to protecting our ecosystems so future generations can experience them. I realize to engage with more people I needed to create Facebook and Instagram pages so I did, I began uploading pictures and started being consistent. Hoping my images would reach the screens of people and make them see a little of what is out there in our environment and why we need to preserve it. In every one of my pictures, I try to show the excitement and love I have when I take it. I have been very fortunate to meet amazing people who have helped me with advice in photography and let me borrow their gear.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
Hello, my name is Victor Perez Carrillo I am a 19-year-old self-thought photographer, student, and entrepreneur. I grew up in a small village in Mexico; Due to a lack of money, my dad had to come to the U.S.A. to provide for my family. This was heartbreaking and made a big impact on my life. When I was six years old I began to work, dreaming to collect enough money to bring my dad home. I never gave up even if my dreams seemed unreachable. As the years went by, my dad was able to legally bring my family and me to Polson, Montana. I was ten years old and faced moving to a whole new country, with a completely new language, lifestyle, and culture. I was enrolled in Polson Middle School on the Flathead Indian Reservation. There were no other Hispanic kids or kids of other ethnicities. I was a kid who didn’t know a word of English and for this reason, I was bullied and ridiculed but my strong drive to succeed in this country never let any of the challenges stop me from working hard until I was able to overcome every one of them. I sat for hours and hours looking at books and Rosetta Stone and getting help and support from peers in my community till I finally overcame this obstacle. My experience made me truly value every step I take and work extremely hard for what I want. I now have a stronger commitment to bettering my future.
I began to be as engaged in my community all through high school by doing community events such as volunteering at local events as a waiter or being a member of local clubs, a big one was 4-H I did this from 5th grade till 10th grade, I raised pigs and had tons of other projects that I competed in, all the activities I was part of helping me give back to my community and build a beautiful network of friends and mentors. This is something I would like to advise to younger generations, do what you enjoy without fearing what others think of you, and always seek out opportunities. I was always scared of taking those risks or being judged but we have to teach our younger generations it’s okay to fail and be scared, that’s how we learn and grow as individuals, we have to confront our fears.
I’m most proud of 2 things, the first one is all the adversities I have overcome, in 2013 I moved to Polson MT from Hueyotlipan, Tlaxcala, a small village in Mexico, coming to America was super scary. I didn’t know the language or the culture. That was truly one of the biggest obstacles that I’ve faced but I did not let that stop me from working hard until I was able to overcome this challenge. The second one is being able to accomplish one of my very first dreams, ever since I was a little kid in the streets of Mexico I would dress up in my police or military uniform and play with my cousins, I would admire the soldiers as they patrol around the town wishing someday I would be in there shoes protecting those I loved. On November 23, 2021, I took the initiative to raise my right hand with the Montana National Guard as a military police officer, I was so excited and scared I had just turned 19, I showed up to the thanksgiving meal and told my family the big news. They were all shocked but not surprised. They all knew I wanted this since I was little, they were afraid of me losing a school and not being able to finish my university. I had to leave my second semester of college to Fort Leonard Wood Missouri, to complete my 20-week training, I was full of emotions but I am thankful for the help and support I have received from my family and friends. I graduated in the top 5 of my class of 150, got awarded Top Gun which is an award for being the only private to have shoot 50 out of 50 shoots with the m17 pistol during my 20-week cycle, and was awarded a Battalion coin for my leadership and excellence in those 20 weeks. I was so excited to come home and see my family again, I am now a Private first class stationed in Malta, MT, and joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at the University of Montana where I currently attend become a future officer in the United States Army! I am proud of what I have accomplished at my age and I hope to become the first person in my family to graduate from a university!
My older brother Omar has been a massive role model and has motivated me to publish my work, Thanks to him I began selling my photography during my senior year at my local farmers market to raise money for college, and I did multiple farmer’s markets across northwestern Montana and still do during the summer.
My life plan since I graduated high school in 2021 has been to get my citizenship which I got last year! My second step was enlisting in the army national guard as a military police officer. Now I plan on doing (ROTC) Reserve Officers’ Training Corps throughout college. I had one semester last year as a try-out year and this year I have decided to commit and hopefully sign a contract with them this December. I’m currently studying at the University of Montana taking 23 credits that very from ranger challenge which is a military advanced class that goes daily at 5 am it pushes your physical and mental limits on the daily, to courses in my field such as public speaking. I am working on getting a bachelor’s degree in parks tourism and recreation management in 3 years and a half and plan to be as engaged in my college life as possible, I am part of the university pistol team who I practice with every Thursday and part of many clubs my favorite is swing dancing who I dance with every Tuesday and Saturday night! No matter what I do I try to bring a positive impact on the people I interact with and help make connections to give back for all the support and help I have received to get to where I am today. My photography is not only my business but also my way of resetting myself, every day I carry the camera that I was given in high school my Nikon d5100 and I currently got the amazing chance to borrow a lens from a friend of mine, My dream is to raise enough money not only to help me continue my education but to buy myself a camera and a lens! My dream camera is a Nikon Z9 with a sigma 60 to 600mm lens, this would not only help me maintain a safe distance between wildlife I photograph but also provide better quality shots for my customers. I am very thank full for my mentors and friends who have let me borrow their gear to continue my passion and for all the people who support me in my journey. After college, I plan to serve my country as an officer in the army national guard, I am leaning toward aviation or military police. While serving I plan on working in a federal law enforcement position, either as a federal Game warden or park ranger while doing photography.
I do some landscape photos and events such as rodeos but I mainly focus on wildlife photography which means I have to capture split seconds, have a lot of patience, and hold my breath a lot, I wait till the light and the animal behavior come together to create a moving image. I do this because it’s so rewarding, one cannot change the weather and the light, where the wild animals want to go, what they want to do, and when special things happen to them. when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy For me.
I have been very fortunate to be published on multiple social media platforms and magazines like the 2021 Polson Visitors guide or the front cover of Montana Grain Growers Magazine but my dream is to be published in Nat Geo Wild and Montana Fish Wildlife and parks photography magazine.
I have a website where I sell my prints either as digital prints or my favorite material metal, this is my website link https://victorperezphotography.smugmug.com/ I sell all my work as a way to help me continue my education and to spread my love for nature.
What do you find most rewarding about being creative?
The most rewarding part of being a creator is not only seeing your personal growth as time goes by but knowing you can connect with someone through your pictures. Every time I interact with others at farmers’ markets or galleries I love to share the stories behind my pictures and share the excitement of the moment. I have been so fortunate to have met so many people due to my work, I currently have one picture in a school in Africa, one in the Netherlands, and Mexico, this is rewarding to know your work is seen by many others who will hopefully begin to appreciate nature more and feel the excitement I feel when capturing those moments.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
My photography business was never meant to be a business, at first, it was just a hobby of mine, I would go to high school, then work as a landscaper and ranch hand but no matter where I went I brought the school camera with me, I have hundreds of pictures that I still haven’t been able to go through cuz I photographed everything. I have never taken a photography course in my life so my friend told me the only way you’ll get better is by taking pictures and that’s what I have been doing. After my summer of junior year my older brother began to notice people liking my work and started to encourage me to print pictures, we first hosted an action on Facebook and sold four prints. Later my senior year I needed money for college so he pushed me and took me to my very first farmers market in my home town, we began going weekly and selling. After two months we started to expand to other nearby cities, and after our first year, I built an audience that open a lot of new doors for me. I was very thankful to be part of two galleries in Polson Montana and even got messages to have my work in a few magazines and social media platforms. Thanks to my brother and everyone’s support for pushing me and making me believe in myself I am where I am today. I currently have a website and my social media page @victorperezphotography where I post daily. I hope to continue next summer selling at farmers’ markets and shows so I can keep sharing my passion and saving money for school. I will keep it as a side hustle during the school year so I can focus on my education and it will go full time during the summer months, I am thankful for the mentors and friends who have supported me and allowed me to borrow their gear, without them I would not be able to continue taking pictures. I truly hope someday to buy myself my own camera and lens, for now, I will continue to borrow my friend’s gear and hope someday this passion of mine can become my full-time job and travel the world capturing memories and those special moments of life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://victorperezphotography.smugmug.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victorperezphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victorperezphotography/
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
Victor Perez Photography