Meet Crystal Maldonado

Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Maldonado.

Crystal, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I got my start when I got my first DSLR on Christmas of freshman year in high school. Taking photographs of my friends and every other opportunity I had. After many events and opportunities to photograph different types of things during my teenage years, I knew photographing people was my favorite. I was also very much into fashion as I am now and I then discovered fashion photography. Going straight from high school to college, I was majoring in a fine arts degree with a focus in photography. I found myself in a dilemma when no one had focused their photography in fashion and there were no standards. After four years of fighting and bridging the gap between the majors of fashion, video, photography I was able to build my portfolio and graduate.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Some things have come very easy to me like finding an incredible mentor. Other things have not been as easy, I moved to LA for a year after graduating in hopes of me finding a job and living my dreams. But when I found myself there, I realized a single job interview had a pile of a couple of hundred applicants. This made me more eager and ready to submerge myself into my work and give it my all. The issue was not my drive and willingness to be the small fish in an ocean, but the issue became my age. As a 20 year old who just graduated I got the same response always, you’re too young. So I decided to move back to Arizona, and take a different approach by starting my own business in photography.

Please tell us about your company.
I now have my own company in photography, specifically fashion and portraits. Although the reason people continue to work with me and continue to support me in my art is not because of the final product itself. It is the experience of being there. I’ve always described my projects when asked as capturing the experience. Since being a little girl I’ve been very hands on and loved building. Putting work and building a set, something tangible is the best part. Taking the image that I’ve created in my head and being able to step into it and interact in it is one of the unique things about my images. When the image is captured, it brings everyone that was there back to that moment, whether it is seeing the lights in front of you, feeling the icy cold water or even just feeling the awkward position you didn’t know your body could be in. Then hoping that when the public sees the final product they’re able to imagine themselves there too just by seeing the model’s emotions and their interaction with every part of the set.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
As we get older, it gets harder to be careless. If I had the opportunity to start over, I would have chosen the path of being on sets and taking on more mentors to learn. I would have made more mistakes by taking more chances. Going to school and taking the more traditional route had it’s perks, but I think I would like to have taken an adventure.

Contact Info:

• Website: crysmphotography.com
• Email: crystalmaldonadophotography@gmail.com
• Instagram: crystalmaldonadophotography

Image Credit:
Nichole Vollhardt , Brooke Paige, Laura Berdecia, Shannel Mariano, Jake Anthony, Manuel Delgado, Austin Long, Michelle Blair, Nikki King, Thomas Bradley, Albert Ortiz, Rachel Angell

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