My Favorite Shot of 2020

This was my favorite shot taken in 2020…It was mid-October in Downtown San Antonio on a hot and humid night. My cousin Edward (aka NappooBeats) was with me, scootering around the city and photographing whatever looked good.

We were on our way to go photograph the Alamodome (former arena for the San Antonio Spurs) when we came across a colorfully-lit freeway underpass that I had to stop and photograph. Using the brake lights on our scooters as light trails, I had Edward do figure-8’s to capture that slow shutter speed. I also waited for the cars to drive by to add more depth to the photo. The colors of the freeway lights randomly changed color-themes, so if I didn’t get my camera settings ready in time, I had to wait a few minutes for it to re-appear.

Many times, when I’m out shooting a new location, I don’t know exactly know what I’m looking for until I get there. Sometimes, all I see is a particular angle or a color….and then I take that small idea and try to project that through the lens. Sometimes I feel stuck with what I’m looking for and then just move onto the next place….During this situation on this particular day, I was drawn to the the vibrant colors- and once I committed and settled in, my creative juices began flowing…

I started tilting my camera to get certain angles. I adjusted the height of the tripod. I told Edward to ride the scooter over and over again until I got a decent amount of red light from both the scooter and the on-coming car traffic. I waited for strangers to walk by to discretely include them as blurry subjects. By remembering all of the details till this day, I can now mentally take myself back to that night of scouting Downtown and getting lost, with no care of direction to go to next. All of these memories makes this photo even more sentimental. To me, THIS is what photography is all about and that’s why I love it so much.

I had a great time during this 10-day vacation. Aside from passing through for 2 days back in 2012, it was my first time in Texas and definitely won’t be the last. I was able to spend time with the kids, go to a gun shooting range, watch the Lakers win their 17th NBA championship with the family, and even got to hang out for a few days in Austin with my other cousins, Janna and Genesis! 

Thank you to Sophia and Ryan for dinner. And thank you to Rummel for driving me around Austin.

Last but no least- Thank you to Shanay, Edward, Janna, and Genesis for the hospitality and letting me stay in their homes and eat all of your delicious food!

And yes- Texas BBQ is as good as they say it is!

I’ll be back! (Arnold voice)
One love 

-J

StoryTime: With Pari Aryafar

Hope all of you are well- 2021 Here we come!

Today I wanted to write about another photographer who I had the privilege of meeting in person just a few weeks ago. I wanted to do this for a few reasons: It can be easy (and unintentional) for the photographer to forget to document their own life journey. I also want to encourage photographers to be able to look back at their life 50 years from now and say, “Man, I remember Justin writing and photographing me during this part of my life.” 

Honestly, I also just love listening to how people started their pursuit of photography and what motivates them to be great at what they do!

After I finished high school in the early 2000’s, I spent most of my college years and early twenties living in the Inland Empire. So, when I found out that Pari Aryafar was from Riverside (15 minutes away from my old stomping grounds) and was going to be visiting her hometown for a few months, I made it a little mission for me to meet her in person! 

Pari (+1 cat named Butters the Great) is on her way to Amsterdam, to further pursue her career as a fighter photojournalist. She is arguably one of the elite professional photographers in Muay Thai and already making her mark in various Martial Arts. Earlier this year, she was living in New York City for the last 6 years, where she received her Masters in Writing from The New School, located in Greenwich Village. NYC is where she discovered Renzo Gracie Academy, training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. With The New School and Renzo Gracie Academy on her shoulders, she was able to understand Martial Arts from many different point of views. This allowed her to dominate her field equally as a writer and a photographer.

Me: “What do you tend to enjoy more in photojournalism: The writing or the photography? Or does it vary on what you’re documenting?”

Pari: “I guess it’s hard to really answer that. I like to think that I can put the two together in a way that makes you understand the whole story. As far as shooting, I like to think I have an idea of what I’m looking for, but writing is harder because I have to write it all out to understand what it is I’m trying to say.”

I have only known Pari since March/ April of this year. She and I were both mentees for Jeff Dojillo’s photography mentorship program. Also, a special thank you to Jeff, Pari, Wendy, and Jeremy for making me feel like a TRUE artist! Through this mentorship, we as a group studied and discussed photography on all levels. From watching documentaries to reading articles to critiquing specific photos, this course made us mentees all naturally step our game up to become even better artists. With being such a close unit, we were able to appreciate each mentee’s own unique style of work as a photographer. So when it was time to meet Pari for the first time for this story, I already felt like we’ve been friends for years!

Two weeks prior to meeting her in Riverside, I asked if I could join and observe her during one of her photoshoots. Ironically, she needed a lighting assistant for an upcoming client and asked if I could help her. I excitingly agreed to assist her but unfortunately, the appointment got cancelled. As I was brainstorming ideas of what we can photograph if we were to meet, one thing I did know was that I was excited for her as she was about to embark on an exciting life chapter and living on the other side of the world. 

I don’t know how to explain this any other way, but when you move far away from your hometown, there’s just something about being back to visit that’s relaxing and re-energizing. In many ways, it feels like you had never left home, both the good and the bad. So, I thought, “Hey, I should interview her while she’s in her hometown.” And that’s why I wanted to make sure we met in Riverside. We met at Flabob Airport, just a few minutes away from her home and former high school. I stopped her in her tracks that day for 45 minutes, as she was on her way to East LA to photograph David Huerta from Los Angeles Muay Thai Gym. 

My first impressions of Pari was that she had a contagious funny and smiling personality- For those of you who have met her, you know what I mean. It was easy making conversation with her as I was snapping away with my camera, walking around the airport. 

“When was the last time that you’ve been to this airport?” I asked her. “I haven’t been back here since my teenage years. But when I was a kid, I still remember my dad flying his small private plane to this airport many times.”

This was my first time at Flabob Airport- Which was established in 1925 and combining the names of Flavio Madariaga and Bob Bogan. Quick shoutout to the nice lady that I spoke to at the airport cafe that day- I’ll definitely be back for some breakfast! Anyways, I wasn’t sure what areas were accessible or private property. Pari and I just walked further down until we reached an opening past the wired fence to get a closer look at the airplane parking lot. 

Although the plan was to just photograph Pari, I still asked her to bring her camera to be used as a prop. However, she still flipped the script on me and told me to stand in front of one of the planes to snap a few of photos of me with her own camera. I thought it was funny and unexpected but just went along with it- So thank you for that!

Next to the planes was a secluded bench and chair, where I told her to take a seat and relax while I adjusted my camera settings. “This is how I sit,” as she smiles and jokingly slouches with one foot on the bench. I took a seat as well for a few minutes, talking about photography and life in general. In our conversation, I was able to dive in to her life story and know a little more about her....

Me: “Before Amsterdam did you already know that it was time to leave NYC, or do you think you’d still be there today? Did you have any intentions of moving back to Cali or any other states, if not internationally?”

Pari: “I didn’t think it was time to leave until Covid hit and I realized I had accomplished everything I wanted to do, or was on track to accomplishing everything I wanted. I was going to have the opportunity to photograph the Olympics, travel to France, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi, and was at a point with work where I was constantly booked and traveling. This was a huge change from years prior, where everything was coming out of my own pocket and I was sleeping on people’s floors at hotels to be able to attend shows.

I wanted to move to Amsterdam to continue the work I had started as a fight photojournalist, and had no “Plan B”. It’s Plan A all the way and continually making adjustments until I accomplish that.

I came home to California to have the opportunity to say goodbye to my family and friends, and to try to get as much work as possible before I left the states. I made sure to do the same with NYC & the East Coast. I’m lucky to have had so much support & have made so many great friends around the world.”

Shortly after, I bring out a tall can of Bud Light beer and tell her what it’s for...

The night before, she had posted a picture on Instagram of an LA Dodgers Jersey, saying “Never forget where you came from.” And with Bud Light being Dodger Blue, as well as being an American beer, I thought it would be a nice little touch to her hometown roots. She agreed to opening it, as long as I agreed to dispose of the almost full can, since she had to drive and photograph afterwards. On our way back to our cars, I asked to take a few photos of her and a quick selfie.

Pari Cherry, 

Thank you so much for your time and best of luck to you and your future endeavors!

Career Photos With Inspector Judah

Originally this story was to mainly be about David “Judah 1” and his work as an inspector…but I couldn’t tell you all of that without introducing his background from my perspective…So, here it goes…

I met Judah about 11 years ago during my days working at Yard House Restaurant, back when full yard glasses of beer were available to drink. I remember the shifts of being an expo/ food runner with him. On the days that I worked with him, we would constantly cross each other’s paths in the restaurant.  He would always be rehearsing out loud one of his spoken word poems or rap verses. At that time, I had never been to a spoken word event, so I was intrigued to see him perform outside of work when he invited me to one of his first Lionlike Mindstate events, held in Chino. 

As his Lionlike Mindstate brand began to evolve, his name and poems became well-known all around Southern Cali, especially in Pomona, CA. This is where he opened up his own store, Machine Pomona Art Gallery, which was a multi-purpose building for local artists and the surrounding communities to gather and express Art on all platforms. From clothing merchandise to musical performances to poetry slams and art galleries, it was the place to become and/or remain a thriving artist. 

Judah’s life journey of accomplishments does not end there:  This year he became the first poet laureate for Pomona, the first ever in this city; a city that also has many roots of history tied to his life. Becoming a poet laureate also gravitated him to revisit both new and old poems for future publications.  

To top that off, he is now engaged to his love, Courtney, and will tie the knot September 2021. They have only known each other for a short period, but mutually knew that they belonged together. 

Wow....Are you still with me? Let me sip on coffee real quick as I catch my breath for a second...

I have known this guy as restaurant worker, a poet, a family man, brand and store owner, and now an inspector. The reason I wanted to photograph a day of him working is to present to you his life in full circle. He has unknowingly motivated me to work hard in my own life and has also pushed me to be the best version of myself as an artist in photography.

I also wanted to step out of my comfort zone by photo journaling someone’s day in their work life, so I thought David would be a perfect fit because he is already comfortable being in front of the lens and we already had a good connection with what I wanted to accomplish that day as his photographer. This was the first time that I’ve chosen to photo journal someone’s life, so it was quite casual but still enjoyable in doing. 

Fast forward to present time, David is a senior deputy soils inspector during the weekday and drives all throughout Southern Cali to make sure certain foundations and regulations are approved before any type of cement is added. Whether it’s in LA, the Inland Empire, or close to San Diego, he drives where he is needed, and doesn’t know where he’s headed to until the day before from his dispatcher.

So, on the that day of the shoot: Judah 1 arrived at my house at 4:50am. He and I were also meeting during “peak” season for my job at Target. Luckily, I was able to move some days around so I can rest and prepare the day before and still meet him the following morning. Due to the pandemic, it’s already been about a year since we last met- During that time, I photographed 2 of his Lionlike Mindstate Poetry events, which was really fun for me to shoot, since Spoken Word is something I’ve always enjoyed attending. 

The first thing we do is buy a cup of coffee at the gas station as we head on the 57 freeway south, towards San Diego. As soon as we get back inside the car, he dumps the new coffee in to his canister. I told him, “Why don’t you just bring that inside? Coffee refills with your own canister is cheaper.” He replied, “I would...but they don’t do that anymore...because of the coronavirus.” “That makes sense,” I reply silently to myself. Another pit stop we had to do was head over to his office, where he fills up his gas tank for the day and also packs his nuclear gage for radioactive testing. We’re all set! And off we go....

Having known each other for so long, you can’t help but talk about the good ol’ days of working together (Big shoutout to the old Yard House crew in Rancho Cucamonga)...throw that in the mix with how are lives are today and you can’t help but feel blessed and thankful that we’ve both persevered throughout this unforeseen year of events. I even told him that I enjoy listening to his morning “Peace to the God” poem and tell him that I say it out loud to myself on a regular basis. I didn’t present it back to him as good as he does, but he still gave me props for doing it! 

As he played a few tracks of his own music that he’s worked on with his homie, Ces One, we also talk about what to expect when we got to the construction site and the story behind the project. The assignment was to build a large water tank (10 million gallons to be exact) at Aliso Canyon Water Plant, and will be used to serve the local residents. 

First thing we do is get our vest, helmet, and boots on. I’m camera strapped and ready to go. Since he got approval by the supervisor on duty that I can shoot all of the areas freely, I began following Inspector Judah like a “fly on the wall.” Minding my steps from the random wood pieces and uneven dirt pavements, Judah directed me where I can safely stand as I’m snapping away with my camera.

As he continued to ask the supervisor questions, they both look down at the carefully groomed dirt floor below to see if the contractor is finished working on his machine. Once the contractor is done, Judah climbs down the ladder and hammers in his nuclear gage device into the dirt below for testing. Turns out that the contractors completed much sooner than expected and gets approved by Inspector Judah shortly after....So, what was supposed to be a full day of us being there turned out to be only 2 hours. I myself took all of the photos I needed, so I was happy with leaving early too! 

“That’s just how it is sometimes,” Judah tells me, as he’s finishing writing down his daily report in the car. But it’s win-win for him: He still gets paid, is leaving work early, and has extra time to spend with his fiancé and daughter back at home. On the car ride back, he gets one last phone call from another inspector at another job site. Notice in the photo how balanced his phone is on his driving arm? Well done, Sir. 

Afterwards, we caught up a little more with our lives, including success, present and future ideas, all while circulating back to being thankful to be working hard and thriving during an eventful 2020. Before leaving, I snapped a quick photo with him. 

Peace to you, your family, and friends. 

-JT

***Bonus feature if you’ve made it this far: Here’s Judah 1’s daily morning poem***

Ayo, peace to the God, good morning

 I hope all things are well with you 

That all things are in alignment 

That all crooked paths are being made straight 

That our goals and intentions are clear and executable and that we’re being faithful to them

Let’s get it 

Let’s be our most true and radiant self in the name of the 1- Peace.