This week, our Community Narrative highlights Jose Martinez (he/him/his), a first-year from San Antonio, Texas. Jose is double-concentrating in Visual Arts and Modern Culture and Media Studies. He is also a photographer and filmmaker. Read the interview below:

How are you? How’s your semester going so far?
It’s good. Coming back was a huge change in weather. It’s been much colder than I expected, but shopping period treated me well. I got into the classes I wanted to get into, but I ended up with a schedule completely different than the one I started off with.

How did you get into photo/video work?
It’s funny – the camera that I have today isn’t my camera. It’s my sister’s camera. She got a camera for her quinceañera. That was her big present, but she didn’t really use it. I was like 15 or 16 when I saw it in the closet collecting dust, so I was like hey I might as well just take pictures. 

I started off doing sports photography for my middle school and high school. People would be like, oh I like you’re pictures, and I thought I could take this a little more seriously. That’s when I transitioned to doing more portraits and concert photography. I honestly didn’t start taking it super seriously until my junior year, so I was already like 3 or so years into shooting. 

What does it mean to you to be U-FLi?
I guess a big part of it is understanding that you’re special. Most people don’t have the same experiences you have, and even within the U-FLi community, not everyone’s experiences are the same. It’s being cognizant that you’re going to have to work harder than other people because the system is built that way. But you also know to not forget where you come from. A big part of it is looking back to your roots and the reason that you work so hard. 

You can find Jose’s portfolio here.