Meet Mario Martinez of Pachuco’s Art in Tucson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario Martinez.

Mario, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Mexico City and raised in the state of Puebla in southern Mexico. I came to the US in 1998. Since I was very young, I remember myself wanting to capture the moments in pictures but my family was very poor so we couldn’t afford to buy a camera. While I was growing up, I heard people teaching me to be afraid of animals for different reasons. So I grew up thinking that any wild animals were dangerous and that they deserved to be killed. When moved to the US I started buying different 35mm cameras and started taking pictures of people, landscapes and nature in general. I got my first professional camera in 2003 and I started hiking more often. I remember people telling me that my pictures were good and that I should sell them but it wasn’t until 2013 when I decided to start going to several art shows to sell my work. It was until the end of 2013 when my everything I had done till then changed.

One day when I was hiking, I noticed this roadrunner hunting grasshoppers right before sunset so I decided to start following her and taking pictures. I followed her for about 15 minutes and I was lucky enough to find the saguaro where she was sleeping. I kept going back every other day to see if I could see her again and to my surprise she allowed me to sit right under the tree where she used to sit for a bit before flying up to the saguaro. One of those days, I just found the courage to extend my arm and start petting her. She looked a little confused but she didn’t fly away. She allowed me to do that several times. After that, I witness him and her partner mating, building a nest and raising a family of six babies in the spring of 2014. I was lucky enough to witness them feeding their babies from just a few inches away. I must add that before this experience, I had not seeing any animals in the wild but this was the moment when all this changed. I started finding rattlesnakes, bobcats, great horned owls, gila monsters, foxes and so on. I am blessed to be able to find animals but more than anything I feel blessed that they allowed me to be so close to them. The fear that I used to have of wild animals is almost gone.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The first challenge to be able to get my first camera was that there was not enough money in the house to afford it. Another challenge was to start believing I could become a good photographer. And lastly, I have had people who told me I wasn’t good enough or that I wasn’t as good as someone else but my answer has always been “I am not in a contest” I do what I do to show myself I can do it more that showing people I can do it. I try to better myself base on the picture or video I took the day before and not base on the work that someone else did.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Pachuco’s Art – what should we know?
Right now, I consider myself to be a wildlife photographer even though I still take photos of other subjects sometimes. When I started posting pictures on social media of the different animals I encountered, people started giving names i.e., roadrunner whisperer, animal whisperer, until a friend of mine gave me the name The Desert Whisperer, which I have been using since 2015. I am very proud that I have learned how to moved around wild animals in order to not scared them away.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I am very thankful of all my followers and subscribers on IG, Facebook and Youtube. Even though I keep hiking and taking pictures because I love to do it I feel good that I can share these with people who like what I do. I like the comments of encouragement to continue doing what I do but most of all I am thankful that all “my animals” have taught a different side of the story, different from what I heard while growing up.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pachucosart.smugmug.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/pachucos_art
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/PachucosArt
• Other: www.youtube.com/c/pachucosart

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