Art & Life with Enrique Peláez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Enrique Peláez.

Enrique, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I´m originally from Mexico, I moved to the United States about 16 years ago and established my residence in Houston, Texas, where I currently live with my wife and two children. Two years ago, I proudly became an American citizen, so nowadays I’m a Mexican-American, I Love both cultures to be part of my persona. I´m a fine art photographer who uses Black & White as the way to express my artistic vision, it allows me to focus on shapes and light tonalities that are the visual essence of my photography.

My photography work is mainly about expressing the world we all live in when we close our eyes and see to the inside. Dreams, fears, loved ones, angels, demons, hopes, flowers, faces, ethereal landscapes and seascapes are all recurrent topics in my work that I believe are part of this “collage” we create in our own “private” internal world. My camera and post-processing mechanisms are the tools I use to create imperfect representations of the internal world I intensely live in.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
For me, the creating process starts well before the image is taken. I must have a depiction in my mind of the kind of image I want to create. This includes not just a visual representation, but an overall understanding of the artistic intent for that particular image encompassing aspects like feelings I want to convey as well as reactions I want to provoke — either positive or negative reactions. The more defined those aspects are in my mind the better chances I have to create successful images. After this preparatory process, I just go ahead and shoot.

Now, when it comes to shooting with the camera there are — in my particular approach — two kinds of images: planned and unplanned. I’d say that about 80 percent of my work falls into the “planned” category, so this is work that I do in my home studio, producing images like still life images, abstracts images, etc. where I usually love to experiment with different objects and light. I also do studio work with models; such a ballerina’s series I just did whose images I have been recently posting in my Instagram account.

The remainder 20 percent of my work is what I call “unplanned”, images like street photography, travel photography, wildlife photography, etc. I must say that I usually make a clear distinction between personal images and public images, however I certainly take advantage of family trips squeezing time mainly very early in the mornings or late night to make to travel photography. Because of this, the preparation of a single image can take days. Similarly, I usually spend long hours in post-processing when, at times, it can take days to process a single photo before I consider it ready to be printed.

Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
Well yes, certainly in today’s challenging economy, it’s no easy to sell art. However, I believe that independently of the business model the artist picks to commercialize his or her art, it’s important to keep in mind two aspects: first of all, to cultivate good relationships with either galleries, in the case you’re selling through a gallery, or with art collectors directly when, as in my case, you’re trying to sell your art as an independent artist. And, second, it’s very important to be financial sounded in the sense that you need to figure out what a fair value of your art is, who are your main audience (potential buyers), what are the typical buying factors they consider. So, based on all that, make the investments that make sense in order to successfully commercialize your art.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I’m an independent artist, even though I occasionally work with galleries, but in general my work can be acquire directly from me through the different online channels I use such as my website, Instagram, Facebook, my blog, and others, later in this interview, you will find the links to all these online venues where my work can be seen, and acquire.

I sell limited editions prints of my images usually between 10 and maximum 50 prints, depending on the image and size of the print. All prints are real silver gelatin (silver halide), black & white prints, on a baryta fiber based, or a premium RC based paper, which is an excellent option for art collectors that want preserve the beauty and value of their investment. The paper and chemical process used to print my images have a complete neutral image tone, without any color cast, as well as proven archival superiority.

Contact Info:

• Address: 13643 Waverly Crest Ct.
  Cypress, Texas, 77429 USA
• Website: www.enrique-pelaez.com
• Phone: +1 (832) 563-0879
• Email: https://enrique.pelaez.houston@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enrique.pelaez.houston
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enrique.pelaez.houston
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Enrique_Pelaez
• Other: https://www.allaboutmonochrome.com

Image Credit:
Enrique Peláez

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