A G P h

"Photography is the story that I fail to put into words."- A.T. Alex Gutierrez Mendez is a Catawba College freshman interested in what he can explore next with a touch of him actually describing his experiences & emotions this time. Photographer / 18 / Instagram:selfunited_

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“GLiTcH Continued”

              This was one of the most thrilling experiences. It’s been a while since I’ve been on an adventure. It was freezing and I was not ready for this shoot. When I got there, after limes of walking, it was awesome. The abandonment and adrenaline rush was kicking in. She had only explored part of it previously and we went deep into the mess. There was so much creepy stuff. There was holes on the walls, chairs everywhere, and broken furniture. As we walked through, it kept getting darker. There were writings on the wall and they were eerie. One said: “Don’t go far because you won’t make it alive.” Then we continued and it said: “I warned you.” Eventually leading to one that said: “I didn’t make it this far and I died.” As we ran out we decided to do it in the opening, because it was too nerve wrecking. When I took the picture, my camera glitched. I turned it off and on, but it didn’t work. After a couple of minutes it decided to work again. When I got home I decided to review my pictures and the picture from before decided to show up. It was glitched and I got so scared in my room. i didn’t sleep well that night. i didn’t even bother touching it and trying to edit.

                                                        Unedited

                                               November 28, 2017

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“New Accomplishments”

           I just wanted to reflect on my previous work. I have come a long way from just shooting with an Iphone 4s 3 years ago. From them I didn’t let things limit me. I tried to make the best of what I had. In that time without a camera I focused on my editing. Finding what apps worked best for me. After that, i bought my first camera. I was the most happiest. I could now focus on my photo taking skills.  I don’t know how many times I read the manual. I would still read it again, because there are a lot of things I am rusty on. I have developed a personal relationship with my work that I am nothing without photography. I love my baby and I have trust issues when people even get near it. There’s only a select few I let use it and then again I hesitate when they hold it. Since that time I had been a fan of VSCO. every dollar I saved I would use to buy a new filter preset. Being able to use them and have new ones inspired me on what new things I could create. When VSCOX I had to borrow money to buy my membership, because I had to have it. From time when my pictures get curated by VSCO, it is an honor. I get a piece of joy knowing that they are viewing my pictures. However; this is no ordinary one. Being selected for VSCO Selects is something different. As soon as I got selected anf my picture got featured on their VSCO account I felt thrilled. The tons of follow requests, reposts, and favorites I got on VSCO was crazy. My phone was ringing with new notifications. Furthermore; I also had the chance to be interviewed by VSCO. How crazy is that?! This only happened like about a month ago. The honor and pride I had, I could not contain. I can’t speak of what went on, but just know this was a step forward for me on becoming a successful photographer.

                                              November 23, 2017

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“I been feeling it since 1966, let me kick it like it's 1986″

          Let’s speak of my random small and spontaneous adventures. I have my moments when I’m bored or driving and I just think of something random. A random photo shoot theme or idea. These type of ideas I can’t write down, because I always have to either develop them at the moment or they will be lost. I could always write them down, but the drive wouldn’t be there anymore. I’m unpredictable on what to do. So usually my friends who are with me better be willing to take some good pictures. It’s on rare occasions that I am photogenic. A lot of people rarely see my face on Instagram and a lot of them probably don’t even know how I look like. I try to keep it mysterious that way. So the one time I’m photogenic; who ever is taking my pictures better step up to my standards. I had recently just saw a vintage photo shoot idea on pinterest. It caught my eye that I was just waiting to produce it at the end of the day. I was striving for a vintage or retro look. I was so happy of my results that I posted it everywhere. I was just like ‘look at me! I did that!” I was so excited. I post song quotes usually on my posts of Instagram that match the theme. I posted a lyric from the artists Portugal the man. I usually tag the artists in hopes of getting a response back. To my luck, it was a success! He commented on my picture and liked it. i felt so accomplished and awesome. So far I think that is the picture I have gotten the most likes from. I’ve had tons of new accounts follow me who are either photographers or have a lot of followers. So hopefully I get to collab or meet new people soon!

                                 Chromatic, Essence, Fuji Superia 100

                                              November 20, 2017

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“Summer Mourning”

            I wanted to continue my adventure form Chicago in my last post. I’ll probably bounce back and jump to NY for my last of adventures over the summer. i have just also been missing summer vibes and the warm weather. So to continue on; I had come back from Chicago on a Sunday night. I was exhausted and I still had the energy to unpack. Not too long later I knocked out and I didn’t want to get up. I wanted to spend the rest of my summer with my family because it was almost over and I had not been home for the longest. One hour later my brother decides to text me. He was obviously drunk, but he was persistent on the idea of us going to the beach. I  had said I had just gotten back and I wanted to rest. Plus he was drunk so he wouldn’t remember much. Apparently, my cousins had influenced him into the idea and so you see me packing t midnight again. Sneaking out of my house because it was summer of Senior 17 and I wanted to make the most out of it. It was when I was discovering more of my adventurous phase and my parents never really worried because all throughout high school I was quiet I didn’t have time to go out an have fun with friends. It was three in the morning and we were on our way to Myrtle Beach, SC. I was pretty excited, but I hated the fact that I was driving 4 drunks to the beach. No one had money so we all just went on a whim. Taking a break from the city, I needed the beach life. It was so relaxing, and I just wanted to live my life there forever. It didn’t feel like all the regular beach trips we do each year. I had tried and done so much and I was finally on my way to finding my true self.

                                                  Fuji Superia 400

                                              November 15, 2017

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“Have you bean?”

                  Lets throw it back to summer break. I have never done much far adventures in high school, but it was my senior year. I was craving to go beyond my limits. The week after graduation I left to NY. Had a blast and did so many new things. Came back and went the next week to Chicago, and then I returned to go to the beach. Lets just talk about my trip to Chicago. It was an okay experience but it didn’t feel as such a big deal. I guess since I was dealing with a lot of problems at the time with relationships and family problems, I just wanted to go away. I did but again, it didn’t feel like such a big deal. I guess since I had just gotten back from NY that I didn’t want to be anywhere else. NY was awesome and thrilling. Also as an adventurous person I wanted to go out and explore Chicago. Instead, I was stuck in a family members house for about a week. My independence was limited and the one day we went out it was a hot, annoying day. Seeing the bean and the amount of people was so cool and surprising. when you stop to think. You wonder, how many people have touched this thing? Then again I was thinking if you took everyone's fingerprints, you could get away with so many crimes without them ever tracing it back to you. Just a weird thought. Anyways I spent most of my fourth of July there. I got drunk and had an okay time, but not something I would do again. The new city environment made NY feel better and more like home.

                                                       Unedited

                                             November 13, 2017

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“Pig Under the Weather”

                 I’ve been struggling with content lately. The weather has been gloomy the past few days so it has a effect on not just my mood but my photography. I’m running low on creativity, inspiration and motivation. It’s the little breaks that I get from school that I appreciate and I take advantage of. It makes me want to create before I end up dry again. I will manage but I’ll keep this one brief. I try to always photograph where ever I go. No matter how small the adventure. There is always something to photograph. I recently went to the BBQ Festival in my hometown of Lexington, NC. I took some of my friends from Salisbury, NC so they could experience the event. Since I’ve been to each year it gets boring from seeing the same thing over and over(especially when you have no money). I did want to get some shots of proof that I was there. So I took some pictures of a couple of things I found interesting. Like the photographer with the long mono pod. I wondered if he got the shot he wanted, and how it came out .Must of been an interesting one. The food, people, and the pig castle are what make the annual festival a sight to see. It’s special that it’s in my hometown.

                                                          Unedited

                                                  November 8, 2017

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“Work in progress”

              Over the past year there was a project I have been working on. I know I couldn’t dedicate as much time to it as i wish I could. Any free time I had between school, work, and my social life I would implement into this project. I have yet to finish it. A dear friend of mine had this idea of smoke photography and I wanted to make it more than just  regular shoot. I wanted it to be my first big project that would help build my portfolio. My friend donated the smokes that were professionally made for photo shoots. I didn’t expect many pictures since it was my first project. I decided to do a raffle on who wanted to be part of it last year on my Instagram. I had about 40 volunteers. Nobody had the idea of what the idea of the project was for so if you accept the conditions that came along with it then you were in. 7 smoke sticks for 7 models. The project is called SMO.7. After each shoot I would only choose one to represent my idea. Each one telling their story. You see, I love the thrill of adventure and adrenaline rushes I get when it ties to photography. I don’t get them quite so often. So I wanted this project to be all about thrill and adventure with an illegal or danger twist to it. So I would travel to the different locations and to give you a touch of what I have. I have ones that involved theft, vandalizing, and to even near death experiences. So it will be a fun article to talk about. Each one will have their story and detailed description of what I went through to get to that shot. I’m currently busy with school so the project is on hold and I like to work with the model and planning everything accordingly. Luckily I am on shoot #7. Meaning I want to put more time into making it a hit. Going down with a bang to top the other ones off. Keep updated of when I finish it. :) (Also, the above picture was of my black shoot. Right before we released the smoke.) A lot of my sneak peeks are spread throughout my Instagram page so you’ll have to scroll to find them. @selfunited_)

                                                 Fuji Superia 400

                                                November 7, 2017

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“GLitCh”

             In regards of the festivities this past weekend. Let me just say Happy Halloween! My dear friend Alex James is one of my go to models. Fr the past month I was thinking of what I should shoot for my Halloween theme. I didn’t want to come up with an idea last minute. I was just itching to start it. I’m not one for planning, but this time I was willing to put time into it. We were planning to have this shoot a week in advance, that way it would give me time to edit and have it ready by Halloween. Because of certain circumstances that wasn’t quite possible. We decided to do it the Monday before Halloween. I picked Alex up and we were on our way to the location. She had already visited this place when she was exploring and I wanted her to take me. We thought up of what she could wear and what we could do. We didn’t do quite everything we wanted to do because of time and resources but the results were great! So great that I didn’t want to edit them. The irony. The place we visited is an abandoned Nursery home. i didn’t get much description of the location till she told me most of it when we were already there. So no backing out. We had to park from a distance because of cops and trespassing. We got to the place and it was amazing. That rush came through me and I didn’t know what to do. The effect of the background looked so dramatic. We went exploring before we took pictures. The place had burned down and was said to be haunted. The writings on the wall were the most terrifying. Things like: “wanna play?” or “Don’t go past this point or you will die.” It was getting dark and it was already 6:00pm. I was terrified and didn’t want to go deeper into the hallway and yet my legs kept pushing me forward. I kept looking back and felt like were being watched. That feeling didn’t shake off even when we were taking pictures. Coming back we got setup and we were having a great time. Alex always knows what to do and cooperates very well. It was beginning to get a little dark so we started packing up and we were on our way back. A weird thing was that one of my pictures I took with the dark hallway in the background never was taken. I took the picture and my camera glitched and the picture never showed up. When I got home the picture showed up with black effects on her face and glitch effects everywhere. I don’t know what to say about it and I’m too paranoid to touch it but who knows. Maybe the place was haunted.....

                                                        Unedited

                                              November 1, 2017

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“Thrilling Heights”

                 A couple of weeks ago I was feeling a tad overwhelmed. Ever since college started I haven’t had time to explore any of the neighboring regions. I want to explore all the spots and hidden locations of Salisbury, NC. I finally had a moment of free time before I had to run some errands. A friend of mine had recommended the spot that we should go explore. I went to pick him up and his friends. I have a knack for abandoned places. The adrenaline rush and danger from it makes me lose my fear of heights and I loose control of everything. We went through some back roads and parked on a nearby location. We went up a flight of stairs and we ended up on the roof. I’m not quite sure if it was an abandoned school or factory. I do know that we walked all over the roof which went on for what felt like miles. It was a little late so we didn’t stay for long. There is so much of it to explore that I just wanted a feel, because I want to come back for. I have so many ideas and shoots I can think of for this spot. We walked on ledges, near wires, glass, poles from one side of the building to another with no security. Just thinking of it makes me want to run back to it. At the moment I’ll just keep the location in mind so I can explore more before I actually want to take other people to do shoots. I couldn’t get many good shot, because I tend to also focus on what my models are wearing. To be honest none of my friends outfits were stunning or really appealing. Also, the graffiti was quite appealing, and I might have spray painted my username too..

                                         Valence, Fuji Pro 800z

                                           October 31, 2017

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So for our online publications class we had to do a podcast. This was my very first one. I messed around with the apps for video, but they didn’t seem to work on my computer. What I did was go to my car, borrow my mom’s phone and call my friend. I had fun talking to her. She has a busy schedule so I got her at the right time. I tried my best so hopefully you can hear it. It wasn’t too long. I didn’t want to bore. After the conversation we went on for like about 2 hours of talking! We talked about so many things with photography. Hope you enjoy it and don’t cringe as much as I did to hearing my own voice.

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“Shooting for 19″

                 Last week I was having a busy schedule, as usual. My friend Taylor’s birthday was coming up and she wanted to know if I could take pictures for her birthday. I try to never let down. So of course I got time out of my schedule that day to take some pictures. I had a great time and I thought it was the break I needed. Of course I was late to work but it didn’t matter. I just wanted her to have a good time and enjoy her special day. She was turning 19 and I wanted to make that special. We went around downtown Salisbury, NC. We walked around and toke some pictures in the courthouse, alleys, and we managed to find a spot that is usually locked. I was trying to find the shaded areas as you may know, I hate sunny days. When their is too much sun an you want the clouds, because you don’t want too much overexposure. We also went into an art gallery. I knew she would love it, because she has a knack for fashion and art. The first image has sun flare I didn’t notice I caught by her bottom lip. I didn’t want to remove it because I thought it looked interesting. She was one of the most relaxed and easiest people to work with. Sometimes you come across people who take time but all you need is patience.

                             Fuji Superia 100, Chromatic, Overcast

                                            October 23, 2017

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“Reflect Defect”

                 Yesterday was one of the most stressful days I’ve had. I relate stress to the overwhelming emotions I get and not being able to cope with them. I also relate stress to my work load but I always try to get it done. That day I was dealing with both. The fact about thinking of the future, relationships, careers, jobs, adulating, all scared me. I wasn’t prepared. There are days I feel as if I’m ready but other days I tend to hesitate and stay back. It’s a part of life and we all have to go through it. i just didn’t expect both to merge at the same time. I try to keep my personal life apart from my academic life. As they came together it was a terrible rush of emotions. Not necessarily depression. I had no reason to be sad but everything just fell along the lines and came together at me.The weather didn’t help as it just made it worse. It was a dark gloomy day. Wind merging with the leaves and the temperature drop just hit me. I called my best friend so I could come over to her room. It was awhile so I was walking around campus crying. I went into her room and I just wanted to sleep all day. I didn’t want to ever get up. It’s times like this that I don’t know what I would be without photography. Photography has helped me express my emotions, get out anything I have inside. It has helped me through the good and bad and sometimes I fear what would happen if I didn’t have my camera. Would I even be alive?! So I wanted to picture all this and just get it out of me. my friend offered to pose and I couldn’t even talk anymore. I just wanted to shot. Shooting everything made me feel better. Eventually after the whole creative mess I didn’t like many of the pictures but I picked out a few I liked. It looks warm, but trust me, it was freezing. Not many things get to me but that day I slipped and it caught me by surprise. Sometimes you have to find your outlet to just be able to express yourself freely. Let everything loose and forget about the world and harsh reality. That’s my reflection for the day.

                                           Valence, Essence

                                           October 17, 2017

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“Narcissistic Ventures”

                  Yesterday was a wonderful day. It was off to a rough patch because of hangovers and such. My parents wanted to take me out to eat so I agreed. I wasn’t really feeling it, because I had had Chinese the day before.We went with family friends and my friend, Edison, went. Who I haven’t seen in a good while. We are always exploring together. So I was like we are both stuffed and tired right now but iI feel like exploring. He always agrees, because he never gets to be part of my work as much. I was just free shooting. No idea of what I wanted in mind. I do hate when I go exploring because I see nice spots and I always say: “I wish you were wearing this type of clothing then it would perfectly go.” I’m always cut short because I get distracted too easily. i could think about 13 different clothing styles from on location and I can’t have all of them at hand because they just pop up in my head. I might like a grunge theme one moment, then hop to a vintage one, then oversee how minimalist would go well, and so on. We were exploring around Greensboro, NC. Walking around downtown we went into different shops and we got onto a parking deck. We went to the top flight and I was trying to get some shots. Keep in mind that my models are always girls so I never really worked with guys as much (I’ll work on that). I’m picky so I only liked the two pictures of him. Edison always like to take pictures of me. I always say, that’s why I’m a photographer. I’m not photogenic. Even though my Snapchat is just pictures of me being a narcissist. The irony right? So I agreed (My username is Gucii23 by the way). I worked a while with them, because I like to make myself look good. These were the only two I like out of the 100 he took. One day I’ll do a short blog on my editing and showing the before and after through my main editing app VSCO. For the meantime, enjoy!

                              l   Valence, Chromatic, Minimalist   l

                                           October 16, 2017

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“Sunset Game play”

                  As a Catawba student I decided to take on work study with the football team. It’s an effort and sacrifice that we make everyday to show up. Working with the film crew and coach Smith means a lot. I know sometimes working during the day when it’s scorching hot may be overwhelming, but the connections and relationships built upon that make up for it. It’s like we are part of the team. Being the photographer for the team I know when and where I’m needed. I get a sense of enlightenment every time I take a shot and it’s a good one where I managed to capture the right moment. I live for the nights when practices are at night and there is a beautiful sunset. I can’t just let it pass by and I try to get as many pictures as I can. I love my job and I hope to keep it for the next 4 years of my college career. I hope to be able to provide more and always leave a positive effect on the team. This is more of a reflection of what I do and how I get involved.

                                                 Unedited

                                       l   October 12, 2017   l

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“FROZEN SHOT”

Seasons are always changing and everything goes through its natural cycle. It had not snowed in much and this year was not expected. The warnings were not believable because we hadn’t gotten snow in the longest. My family didn’t make a big deal out of it so we went to the store. We went to go grocery shopping and there was no food left. There were isles empty. There wasn’t any bread, water, food, even dish detergent was gone. There wasn’t even people because the food was all gone. We were just so confused because there was no clouds. It was a sunny day so why was there people buying food for weeks of hibernation? We did get some items and just waited till they would restock. Comes to show that you can’t trust mother nature. The next day, we were feet down in snow! I honestly don’t know how we survived the week. We went one day without food because we were not prepared for the storm. For me I could go days without eating. Not seeing so much snow ever I was wanting to live outside. I went outside and was taking endless pictures with my camera. At the time my macro lens for my camera came in. So I decided to test it out. I got some really nice shots and I was everywhere for an adventure.

                                        l   October 10, 2017   l

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“Living both Worlds”

               Today for one of classes we decided to go to downtown Salisbury, North Carolina. I wasn’t really feeling being photographic and being creative. This was one of my bad days. It’s usually when it’s a sunny day. I know that sounds really depressing but I prefer cloudy days. In the photography sense you don’t have to worry about too much exposure and having to look for shadows because the sun is always in your face and you get flares that you don’t want. It’s just a tad annoying and you can work with it but when you have time. We went around different shops and we went into one shop I loved. I didn’t want to leave. It was like someone had finally exploited my love for vintage styles and cameras. With a touch of hipster and chill feeling. I wanted to live their for the rest of my life. There were so many vintage cameras everywhere and I wanted to buy all of them. Too bad they were expensive. I was just dying internally and not trying to have an emotional breakdown in front of all my classmates. I will come back very often just to admire everything. The shop was called Lost & Found. It was my world being put on display. I tried to do a video blog but I’m more of a photographer not a video person. So I provided a short video of everyone in my class below this post.

                   Alchemy, Chromatic, Valence, Minimalist, Fuji Pro 400H

                                         l   October 6, 2017   l

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