By Axel Rivera

My name is Axel Rivera, I am from Guadalajara, Mexico. and I’m currently doing my major in cinema production at Los Angeles City College (LACC). As an international student I focused on looking for my best college options in terms of educational plan, resources, and experience. LACC really offered me that reliability and opportunity I was searching for and felt like a safe cultural and diverse place since the first day. Personally Los Angeles has always been a target for me — I see it as the land of unlimited opportunities for those people who dream, work, and earn it. I'd like to attract those opportunities in my life through my career and forward to achieve my personal goals.

Networking with models and planning weekly photo shoots was something I took for granted before the pandemic. During the March quarantine I found myself in a creative block, losing track of my photography and personal projects; during that period of time my best resource became stepping out of my comfort zone and actually doing things I would never have done in my daily routine. 

Inspired by the work of Alessio Albi, one of my favorite photographers, I took a turn on my work and started doing photo sessions via FaceTime. I prepared the concept, spot, makeup, and looks fully through video conference. And with the help of the models, I directed the camera position, light, and body poses. Certainly it became a new challenge for me but felt greater to see the results and to share my art even during this time as well to inspire other photographers on practicing this method of doing photo sessions.  

Axel Rivera from Guadalajara, Mexico, is 20 years old and is currently majoring in cinema production at Los Angeles City College.