Check out Arnoldo Roman’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arnoldo Roman.

Arnoldo, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Well, I was born in Hayward, California, in between the three major Nor-Cal cities. ( San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.) I moved to Mesa when I was three years old, in a small apartment on Lazona Dr. in Downtown Mesa. I moved around from school to school all through K-8th, until high school where I only attended Mesa High School. I’m now a nursing student At Arizona College and am enjoying being a future nurse practitioner.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a photographer, mainly shooting street and portrait shots, although I do a little it of everything. I use a Nikon D3400 with Nikon Nikker and Tameron F mount lens. I do photography because it’s a therapy to me. It helps me explore thoughts and ideas that normally would’ve just come and went through my mind. I started my love for this art in 5th grade in Longfellow Elementary. I joined photo club that year, and I honestly joined that club so I would be eligible and a school award. But once I went in, I couldn’t let it go. I was hooked on photography, seeing the photos and art my teacher had created with photography, I strived to create such beauty through a viewfinder. I was given a Canon AE-1 35mm film camera, and Fujifilm black and white and color film. I took so many photos of so many things.. Forests, hiking trails, the streets that I walked daily from where I lived, I was hooked. Sadly, when I left photo club after 5th grade, I lost interest in it. Years passed, and I never really did much of photography. It seemed like it would be just a type of puppy love for the art. When I was in high school, however, I came across something good. I worked with my father in his landscaping company all through high school, and during one summer we cleaned house for a client who worked for a bank that would give him a list of foreclosed houses that needed to be winterized and cleaned, and we had to clear out the entire house of everything. In one house, I came across an old brown Velcro bag, and it was heavy. I opened it, and I was ecstatic. It was an old film camera, a Pentax ME Super to be exact. I took the film camera home, and I had it hung up for a while because it was in such pristine condition. I finally decided to use it on a trip going to Sedona with a friend, a little photo shoot, something fun. When we were almost to Camp Verde, I pulled over on the side of the freeway, I decided to take start the shoot there, and looking through a viewfinder for the first time in literally a decade, it flooded my mind with memories of when I was in 5th grade, looking through that old canon camera. From there, I saved up to buy my first DSLR camera, taking street pictures, then booking photo shoots, and the rest is history. I guess the message I want to put out is, don’t let go of your passions, no matter how off the mainstream it is, no matter how weird it is, no matter how small the passion is, don’t let it go. About my art, I mainly do street shots, but lately, I’ve been doing more portrait photography. I do hope to do more types of photography in the future, but I’m not going to rush or force ideas.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
I feel success is based on your expectations and standards. Success to me depends on how I feel that day. Like, waking up is a success. Getting through the day is a success. Executing an idea for a photo shoot that I have is a success. So it all depends on your standards on what success can be. To be successful as an artist, embrace your weirdness. So many ideas I’ve had are ideas I would have never given a second thought before, but now I can’t help but want to know where it will take me, and usually, it’s weird to me, but I still want to do it. Accepting and embracing your weird side will give you the ideas you want.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can see and support my work on Instagram at @view_thro_lens, and my photography page on Facebook as Arnoldo Reyes Roman at @roman.rey.photography!

Contact Info:

• Email: arnoldoroman42@gmail.com
• Instagram: @view_thro_lens
• Facebook: @roman.rey.photography

Image Credit:
Norma Vargas, Instagram: @normavargas__
Danny Gregorio, Instagram: @dannyboy_live
hugos art, Instagram:@hugos_art

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