Check Out SAÚLSHOTYA ’s Story

Today, we’d like to introduce you to SAÚLSHOTYA.

Hi SAÚLSHOTYA, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Everything I enjoy in my life today originated from my roots in skateboarding. I picked up a camera initially as a kid because I wanted to capture my friends and me just doing what we love day to day.

Whether it was using my friend’s camera or resorting to my iPod touch. I always was looking to capture the things that I found interesting in my world. In high school, I got my first real camera. I was living with my brother in downtown denver in a tiny studio. As any bored teenager in a tiny space would do, I started looking through all of my big brother’s things, and I came across a camera bag; it’s actually the same camera bag I still use today!

I started to check it out, then waited for my brother to come home from work to ask if I could use it. His answer would define the next 10 years of my life. He pretty much told me to go crazy with it and that camera became a part of me from that point on. I took it everywhere I could and took pictures of everything I could.

It took me on late-night adventures through downtown Denver, it gave me a reason to take my hooptie to car meets, it gave people a reason to take interest in me, it gave me a way to express myself and have my own voice and platform during a time in my life when everything around me felt like it was falling apart and I felt completely alone. It was something I had control of.

I decided where it started and ended. Photography became something that was truly mine and no one could take it away from me.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not. My most recent bump in the road was losing my camera last summer along with an SD card loaded with a project I was really excited about. It was my first shoot where I planned and executed at a higher level that I’m aiming for in my work.

Overall, this journey, like any other pursuit has had good times and bad times. It’s what’s expected from anything one takes on in life. Growth isn’t linear, failure only comes when you quit so once you reach a point where you think you’ve failed, look for the lesson, take it in and move forward accordingly.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For this interview’s sake, I’m a “photographer.” But although I don’t like to use this term much, overall I’m just an artist. I’m constantly looking for ways to express myself and my ideas. Photography just happens to be the one thing I’m comfortable enough with to truly share with the world.

If I were to sum up my entire “career” as a photographer I’d say I specialize in capturing cultures I take a liking to in a documentary type of style. However, lately, I’ve been experimenting with lighting and learning to work with it as well as manipulate it. I recently got a studio space in order to teach myself the technical aspects of photography so I can smoothly execute these high-production projects I’ve obsessed over for the past 3 years.

Although I don’t really know what people specifically refer to when they tell me this, I constantly am told that my work is recognizable immediately. Hearing that over and over has led me in the direction of taking my crazy ideas seriously.

Contact Info:

• Website: Saulshotya.com
• Instagram: @Saulshotya

Image Credits
SAULSHOTYA