An Inspired Chat with Christina Mata of Ahwatukee/Phoenix

We recently had the chance to connect with Christina Mata and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Christina, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I’m being called to come back to myself.
It sounds simple, but it’s taken me a long time to feel safe enough to just be me again, to stop trying to be what everyone else needed, and to start listening to what I actually want. For a while, I felt like an imposter in my own life. I kept asking myself, “Who am I to think I can be different? Who am I to make art?”
For years, I focused on everyone else. I was the fixer, the solid friend, the good daughter. I chased success, stability, and this idea of being “happy,” but somewhere along the way, I lost touch with myself. I stopped drawing, painting, and the hardest part..I stopped taking pictures.
Then sometime last year, I started to feel this pull, almost like an itch under my skin, reminding me that I was disappearing. It was uncomfortable, but it also woke something up in me. I realized I didn’t want to keep playing small or living for other people’s expectations. So I started to come home, to art, to creativity, and to myself.
Now I’m letting myself do what makes me happy, even if it disappoints people. I don’t want to be the “fixer” or the “good one” anymore. I just want to be me. I want to create, to take photos that feel alive, and to stay in that flow that feels like freedom.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Christina Mata and i’m a photographer based in Arizona. I like creating art that feels alive. I like blending in emotions with an editorial style, sometimes cinematic. My work is mostly about emotion and storytelling, I want every image to make someone pause and feel something, even if they can’t explain it. I’m drawn to the mix of softness and strength in people, places and light, a glimpse into someones inner world and I think that shows up in my photography.
My goal is to always capture that quiet connection between what’s seen and what’s felt, the feeling that lingers after the image.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
Honestly, I think it’s the part of me that spent so many years trying to be who I thought I should be. The version of me that tried to be “less Mexican” when I was younger to fit in growing up in a mostly white community.
Don’t get me wrong, my upbringing wasn’t hard, my parents worked so hard to give us everything we needed, and I’m so grateful for that. But I felt like I had to shrink or change myself just to feel accepted. I chased friendships and approval, only to realize that a lot of those people weren’t really my friends or had their best interest at all.
That version of me actually did serve a purpose though. It showed me what I didn’t want, and it forced me to figure out who I actually am. Now I can let go of all those expectations I thought I had to live up to, embrace my culture, my creativity, and just be me. That part of me has done its job, and it’s time to release it.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
For a long time, I really believed that climbing the corporate ladder was what I needed to feel accomplished. I worked on this big project once, twelve-hour days, endless meetings, and managing a team I was proud of. It actually did really well, and for a while, it felt good to be recognized for it. But once it ended, everything I had built was handed off to another department, changed completely, and basically erased. At first, it crushed me, I felt like I’d failed…like if it had really been good enough, they wouldn’t have needed to change it. But over time, I realized it wasn’t failure in the way I thought. It just wasn’t mine to begin with. The project belonged to the company, not me.
What I really failed at was forgetting to pour that kind of time and passion into my own creative work, the things that actually light me up. That experience completely changed how I define success and failure. Now I care more about building something that feels true to me, even if it’s smaller and just for myself.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I think one thing I believe is true but can’t really prove.. is that everything happens for a reason, even when it doesn’t make sense in the moment. I can always look back at certain moments in my life and even in my creative journey where detours ended up leading to something better or more meaningful. The “ahh, okay that makes sense now” moment, or I can see why now this needed to happen. I guess I believe in the invisible thread that connects timing, people, and sometimes even a purpose. You can’t prove it, but you can feel it when it’s happening.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I had 10 years left, the first thing I’d stop doing is letting my insecurities control my everyday life. It’s funny how it takes a scenario like “only a few years left” to really realize how much time we waste holding ourselves back, but I think most people would probably feel the same. Outside of that, I’d sell my house, move back in with my parents (hope that’s okay Mom and Dad! Haha), and work just long enough to save money for the things that really matter. Then I’d travel everywhere, all the places I’ve always wanted to see. Fully immerse myself in the culture, in true Anthony Bourdain fashion. Later on, I’d love to live abroad for a few years and soak it all in. Those 10 years would be about doing everything I’ve been dreaming of, without holding back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.christinamataphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.hristinamata/

Image Credits
the photo I submitted for my personal picture was taken by https://www.instagram.com/mateophx/ – please give credit to him
the rest of the images were taken by me, Christina Mata.