Check out Mark Villena’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Villena.

Mark, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I picked up my Fujifilm X-E2 in 2015 while still living in Washington DC. At that time, my wife had already moved to Chicago for a job and we were also expecting our first child. The idea behind the purchase was to capture the precious childhood moments. Months before our daughter arrived, I started to take my new camera wherever I went —- friends’ weddings, to work, outings. I started to enjoy photography and the unfamiliar professional-like photos the new camera produced. The interest in photography grew stronger the moment I learned about editing in LightRoom, which was around the time I finally moved to Chicago. New home, new city meant I took photos everywhere I went as a way to explore —- around my block (Uptown, at the time), in the rail stations, downtown, etc. I was now hooked. Late 2017/early 2018, I decided to create a separate photography Instagram account and really step up my photography game —- learning about composition, learning how to capture the moon, how to do long exposure, going from everything Auto to everything Manual, many thanks to YouTube (aka YouTube University lol), and checking out local Chicago photography group meets, specifically Art of Chi.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I take pictures to evoke emotion and inspiration, cliché as that may seem. I want to take people to a place they may or may not experience for themselves. Whenever I see a worthy, interesting moment, my first instinct is to capture it while trying to enjoy it myself. Once or twice a week, I’ll step out in the evening, either solo or with another photographer friend, and roam around the city, and try to find a frame that excites me or tells me a story. I enjoy it, it’s fun, and it’s also my outlet from daily life — (I work from home full-time as a Patent Examiner so I don’t really get out of the apartment during the day, I’m a husband and father to a 2-year-old). It’s always a good feeling when you can get someone to feel like “damn, that’s a dope photo.” But more importantly, I hope to inspire people to capture their world from different perspectives and also to not be afraid or shy to bring around a camera and snap photos wherever you go — just capture life now, whether people, landscape, architecture, etc. Chicago changes by the minute — new places, new high rises. One day you’ll be going through photos and say “hey remember when this was just a parking lot and now it’s the hotel?” I want to inspire people to look for those moments that are right under their nose and don’t realize it because of how busy they may be or simply unaware — people laughing, a couple hugging, a bird flying, reflections, a street performance, a cool sign, etc. I want to move people. // Many photographers try to have a consistent timeline, a niche, a “look.” While I do admire, appreciate, and understand that approach, each of my photos are edited based on each of their own contexts and how I’m feeling at the time. I like it that way.

The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Find ways to make money. Keep your 9-5 because you need the money to fund your art. Purge your closet, sell your clothes, old computer monitors, old modems and routers you don’t use, find a part time job, sell stuff you haven’t used in over a year (via eBay and Facebook marketplace). About once a month, my wife and I will look at our belongings and try to get rid of what we don’t need or use; and many times I try to figure out if I can sell it for some extra cash. If your art is good (subjective, of course), people will want to buy it and support it. Friends and family will be the first to support. Period. Be sure people you interact with know you take photos — carry your camera around — it’s a good segue to talking about your art, then ultimately lead to “hey, I sell prints. are you interested?” At the end of the day, all artists will make time for their artwork. Might come with a lack of sleep LOL but we all find time and make it work. Also, BUY USED!!! A lot of times we all want to buy the new stuff, the new tech. Just as an example, I learned how to shoot manually (no autofocus). Doing so has opened up the possibilities to a whole bunch of old camera lenses that I can adapt to my camera body — and these lenses run as cheap as $30 as compared to native Fuji lenses that run for hundreds. Go vintage and save money!

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Most of my work goes on my Instagram @markandhisfuji. I can be contacted there for prints or at villenaphotography@gmail.com. I have a YouTube account as well where I post edit sessions in a very subtle ASMR style lol. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ViTOwjckMve4ELoUCublw?view_as=subscriber

Contact Info:

• Address: South Loop, Chicago
• Website: www.villenaphotography.com (coming soon)
• Email: villenaphotography@gmail.com
• Instagram: @markandhisfuji
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VillenaPhotography
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ViTOwjckMve4ELoUCublw?view_as=subscriber

Image Credit:
Mark Villena

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