Interview: Penny De Los Santos

Well hot damn if I’m not excited over this post! Penny De Los Santos is a photographer based in Austin, Texas who has photographed subjects all over the world. I first met her on Twitter after falling in love with her work on her professional photo site as well as her personal blog but I’ve loved her work for years.

Penny’s food and travel work is truly like no other. Having began documenting events for National Geographic and creating meaningful series like her Tejano Project before moving into food photography, her work stands apart from so much out there currently. It evokes a documentary-like emotion, visceral and meaningful yet gorgeously beautiful.  As an award-winning photographer with clients like Martha Stewart, Texas Monthly, National Geographic, Newsweek and Time, I’m thrilled to have gotten to know Penny and was even more thrilled that she agreed to an interview on Mattbites.

Tell me a bit about your background. Where did you grow up and how did it frame your aesthetic and desire to move into photography?

My father was career military so I was born in Germany and moved around some until his final post in Fort Hood, Texas about an hour outside of Austin. Both my parents are born and raised in the border town of Laredo, Texas where I spend the bulk of my summers and Holidays. My parents wanted to make sure I understood what it meant to be Latina and from a town where Latinos were the majority.

My first photograph was of a little homeless girl on the streets of Nuevo Laredo, taken with my dad’s old Yashika. I was 13 and whether I realized it at the time, that photograph planted a seed. Little did I know I would later dedicate years and the bulk of my personal work to defining and visually documenting this culture.

What exactly prompted you to explore photography?

What most drew me into photography was the camera’s ability to communicate an emotion. That first photograph I made, how I felt when I made it, why I made the image at that moment and what exactly I was trying to say with it, all seemed so empowering. It was as if I was finally being heard. The power of a good photograph can transport you, make you feel lost, happy sad, hopeful. It’s magical.

The camera also became an amazing opportunity to enter people’s lives. It gave me a reason to explore the lives of people I was drawn to. It made me not afraid or intimidated to approach strangers with the camera, while teaching me to be a good listener and negotiator.

When looking at your travel photos and scenes from around the world I feel as if you are in the moment, a part of the experience and not a bystander with a camera.  To me this is nothing short of a miracle. What do you do to accomplish that?

I listen and I watch intently. I zone everything out except for the person or situation that I am photographing. And I wait. Sometimes I have to wait a long time, relying heavily on patience and trusting my instincts. You have to constantly search for the right moment, for the picture. It’s a dance of getting uncomfortably close and pulling back, looking for every possible vantage point. I have to be a fly on the wall and blend into the scene to the point that people forget I am actually there. That is when it all starts to happen.

The hardest thing about being a photographer?

Photography is a career and a way to make a living. This means you don’t always get your dream assignment and not every picture is one you would spend your personal time making. You also find yourself at the whim of editors, the economy and what is publishable, which can affect your work and personal vision. To counter this I always work on personal projects, and self assign great projects that keep me inspired.

The easiest thing?

Knowing may camera inside and out, I know every possible option it can give me technically, I can rest in that confidence and when I’m shooting I only have to worry about the other elements of a good photograph: light, composition and color, timing.

We both grew up in Texas, my family had lived in the Valley (near the Texas-Mexico border) off and on for years and I see that’s where you grew up.  How do you feel that part of the world prepared you for your travels around the world?

The Texas borderlands are a great training ground for understanding diversity within a culture.  It is a place where cultures clash and are constantly being redefined. In Laredo there is an extremely poor population, a healthy growing middle class and a smaller but strong affluent population. Amidst those variations are Mexican-Americans, Mexican Nationals and undocumented people. That’s a pretty diverse group in a small geographical area and each one identifies with being Latino, Texan, Tejano and American in very different ways.

Having exposure to that at a young age taught me about being open to people that were different than me. It taught me acceptance and understanding and gave me a real desire to learn from those differences. Whether I’m in Lebanon or Jerusalem, being open to different cultures, beliefs and traditions makes my transition into multiple cultures easier.

You have a series called “The Tejano Project”.  I almost get weepy when I view the images because it captures a part of the world not many see.  Through your eyes we quinceañeras, backyard parties,  some hip hop, some old-world charm, some ranchero, some urban — todo. To me it’s particularly moving because it’s part of the world I grew up in. What has the reaction been to this series?

From the moment I walked in the doors of National Geographic Magazine in DC as an intern early in my career, I was encouraged to find a project to pour my heart and soul into. The Tejano Project was a documentary essay I proposed. I was awarded a grant which allowed me to photograph the Texas Borderlands for four years. The culmination of that project was published in the Magazine in the Winter of 2006.

People’s reactions have been really positive. People are moved by the work, can identify with it. This is touching for me being that part of the reason I became a photographer is to document Tejano culture.

Maybe I’m still trying to understand where I fit in, in that culture. That project is my life’s work, to date I have spent 10 years photographing different parts of South Texas and Tejanos. My goal is to turn that body of work into a book. The reaction to the work has been very good.

Do you have a favorite image?  How did you gain access to so many special moments?

Saveur Magazine sent me to Lebanon on assignment last year for a food feature on Iraqi refugees living and practicing their food traditions in Beirut. The situation was pretty intense for a photographer, let alone a western woman working in a Hezbollah-run neighborhood where journalists, especially foreign ones, were prohibited and detained. My access was made possible through the writer who had spent several months developing a relationship with these men. Our access was limited as we didn’t want to draw attention to the men, which could have been dangerous for them.

The few nights I spent photographing these gentlemen were amazing. Photographically it was terrible, no electricity, not able to use flash (draws too much attention through the windows, raising suspicion with watchmen patrolling the neighborhood). But when they lit candles for their evening meal signifying the end of their Ramadan Fast it couldn’t have been better. The orange glow from the candles lit their faces just enough to give it the right amount of detail and emotion and capture the essence of the moment. The customs and cultural traditions of these Arab Iraqi men don’t allow me to socialize with them , not as a woman, nor as a photographer. It was my camera that allowed me access to their world.

Developing a relationship with your subjects is the best way to get access. Gaining people’s trust is the only way to be allowed a glimpse into their lives.
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Can you tell us a little bit about the image titled “Lunch Break” in Moche, Peru? What were they eating? And how did that shot come to happen?

That image is from a story I did for Saveur Magazine on pre-Inca civilizations and the food they eat and how those same foods are still eaten. The image is of security guards at the famous Moche Ruins near Trujillo on their lunch break. I was so drawn to the light in this little eating area and I was following this woman who feeds all the workers at this ancient ruin. When she brought food to these men it was like a gift from the Incan Gods.

Can you share with me one of your most memorable travel experiences?

One of my most memorable experiences was my first international food assignment. It was in Chile traveling with writer/restauranteur Maricel Presilla. Keep in mind this was my first full feature food assignment, and my background up to this point was in documentary and photojournalism. Those first few days in Chile I was completely blown away. I had stumbled upon the missing link in my life. It’s like I found the lover I had been looking for. The idea of making pictures about food culture and food was a true awakening for me. I had never married the two ideas together in an assignment. The writer was great too, she completely fueled me, guiding me through markets telling me about the history of foods, about how they are used, encouraging me to taste this and smell that. It was this very clear idea of cultural anthropology around food and using the camera to show it. It completely turned my world upside down.

When I look at your portrait work I’m blown away. You photograph such beautiful real people. What do you like best about photographing people?

What I love about photographing people is the challenge of taking all the elements of who they are and then being creative and putting those elements together, considering light, composition and color all hopefully coming together in one single frame to make a nice portrait of that person.

You now have a blog called Appetite, giving us even more glimpses of your work. I love your trip to Vietnam and your images from “A Day In The Life Of Rick Bayless’ Topolobampo”.  You captured a beautiful elegant energy there. That assignment must have been so much fun!  So tell me, what drew you to blogging?

I realized after everyone I met asked me the same questions over and over about my job, different countries, different travels…maybe, just maybe I could talk about what I do and perhaps it would be interesting, educational, humorous and on a good day inspirational. I am still learning a lot about blogging but more than anything I have met some amazing people and discovered an entirely new community. The biggest surprise is how encouraging it has been.

Now the nitty gritty: what do you like to shoot with? Do you have any favorite gear in your bag when you travel? As a travel and documentary photographer I imagine you must always be prepared for any and every moment.

I like to keep it simple Matt, Canon 5D, upgrading to the MarkII next month. I only keep a couple of lenses in my bag but usually only use one, Canon’s 24-105 ultrasonic with the image stabilizer. That lens is beautiful. When I’m in the field I don’t want to draw any attention to myself, I want people to forget about me, so I usually just carry one body and one lens and maybe a flash. My best tools are my instincts and just watching, anticipating and always being ready.

You make my heart sing at various times of the time with your tweets about having stumbling upon the “perfect light” when you are out shooting.  I feel like we’re kindred spirits that way! Do you have a particular favorite time of day to photograph?

I’m a sucker for beautiful light. On assignment I’m up just before dawn wandering the streets as light breaks and in the evening between 6-8pm I’m looking for that golden light or long shadows.

What do you think of current editorial food photography? Is there anything that stands out to you particularly?

I think it’s an exciting time for food photography. People are really interested in food and the culture around it more than ever right now. I’m inspired by magazines like Gourmet, Donna Hay and Saveur that present food in such a natural and mouth-watering way.

I must tell you, I was completely in love with your cover of Saveur. This was right before I met you, actually. I think you’ve managed to capture exactly what Saveur does best — almost a reporting style coverage of real people with real food. Can you tell me a little bit more about that cover?

I shot a ton of images for that cover, but the one they ran was ironically one of the first ones I made. It was shot at the Saveur Test Kitchen in New York City. That issue just received a big award nationally from the Society Of American Magazines. That cover was my first cover ever on a national magazine. Best part on that shoot, we had breakfast all day!

You’ve recently done some work for Martha Stewart. When can we see that on the newstands?

The Martha Stewart feature is running in the June issue. It’s a feature on San Antonio’s Tex-Mex culture and food. I also shot a lot for Saveur’s June issue which is dedicated to our home state of Texas.

Thank you so much Penny! One last question: What advice would you give to up-and-coming photographers or those seeking to explore a career in photography?

My advice to anyone wanting to pursue photography as a career or at the beginning of their photography career is to shoot as much as possible. Look at as many photographs in books and magazine and galleries as you can take. Have some form of a camera with you always and consciously make pictures of your life. Exercise your eyes in some form everyday.

And finally, words that I live by and am constantly inspired by, and remind me of why I do what I do (in fact I’m about to paint this on a wall in my house):

“If you are going to photograph people you require a camera,
If you are going to photograph people well, you must understand them well,
If you are going to photograph humanity, you must always understand your own heart and soul”
-Eve Arnold

All copyrighted photos on this post courtesy Penny De Los Santos

Tagged as: Penny De Los Santos, Photography