Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Valladolid.
Nancy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in Mexico City and raised in Chicago. I was in between two worlds and I always felt misplaced growing up. My desire to live in my birth country was not on option. My father was physically abusive to my mother and therefor took me and my two older brothers as far as she could. Being a single mom in a unfamiliar city with an unfamiliar language, led us to some unfortunate events in our lives. My mom worked long hours as a waitress and as a nanny which gave her little time focus on us. My mom loved us, and the choices she made were in hopes to give us a better, brighter future. Needles to say, it didn’t always workout that way for all of us. My brothers and I became independent at a young age and were left to raise each other. My brothers fell into the influences of drugs, gangs and violence. I stood aside and watch many bad things happen to my family. My mother remarried twice. Our first step dad ended up in prison for hurting me and my second step dad was violent and immature. I was too young and too vulnerable to help my family. That vulnerability fallowed me all the way through high school and into college. My mom moved us to a suburb to help my brothers and I leave the city life. Maybe things would change then. Being in a predominantly white school, I faced racism everyday and was told by my councilor who was suppose to guide that I shouldn’t worry about applying to college because I would never amount to anything. At the age of 16 I had decided to work and help my family financially. I worked full time putting my school aside for a year after high school graduation. I found jobs and kept very little of my pay for myself and the rest went to groceries for the home. At 18, I found a stable job as a Teacher Assistant at a child care center which gave me the opportunity to be Teacher Certified. My certification inspired me to go to college. College was a breath of fresh air. I tried everything, I was like a kid who had never tried candy. By my sophomore year of college, I was President of the Latino Alliance, I was a starter in the girls soccer team, I was performing in dance pieces and I was submitting art pieces for art shows at school. I then married my high school sweet heart. My young marriage had put another strain on my education. My mind had shifted again from being in school to making money to support us. I moved back into the city and worked full time as a Teacher Assistant at a Chicago Public School. My marriage was not going so well and was heart broken. I ended the marriage do to illegal drug selling from my spouse. I was now in the darkest days of my life. I drank constantly and partied almost every weekend. I wanted to forget about me and my values. I was lost day in and day out for about a year. I then realized I was pregnant. I had my son at the age of 28 and turned my life around. I was still a full time employee at CPS but began to take night classes to finish my degree. I, then began to photograph my son and what was just a hobby turned into my passion and focus for the next 6 years. I am now 34 years old and will be graduating in June of 2018 with my B.A. in Fine Arts with a concentration in Photography. I will be the first in my family to graduate. My diploma is my gift to them. My business has grown so much. I have gotten so much support from the Bucktown and Wicker Park Community. I’ve been Photographing for ILAVA, a non profit organization who aides the women in Tanzania. I have had the opportunity to photograph the Chicago Red Stars. My work has been published in a book titled “Austin Boulevard: The Invisible Line Between Two Worlds”, the Yoga Mantra magazine and a few online articles such as the Huffpost, Chicago Tribune and Voyage Chicago. I want to use my photography to inspire our younger generation and to help beautify low income communities.
Has it been a smooth road?
Before getting any results, one must learn to grow from their struggles. I did not have the finances to pursue my business in photography. I have gained incredible support from my clients and friends. The people in my community have given me some one on one mentoring and have led me in the right direction. It really is a turnaround from where I was. I felt I didn’t start experiencing life till I had my son. My family and photography have given me purpose in life.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a Chicago photographer. I have been a photographing professionally for the past 5 years. I started out by taking photos at my church. I was part of the marketing team and because of the work I was producing, people began to book me for weddings, portraits and special events. I, then started using my photography as a way to touch people’s lives in a positive way. I began photographing single moms for free. I know how much work it takes to be a single parent and I wanted to give moms the gift to feel special and important. I then hired homeless people for a short period of time to photograph them and ask them questions. My thought was that this was a way of me employing them and make them feel important, even if it was for 5 minutes. I have also photographed teens for free to give me the opportunity to talk to them about the importance about the images they are putting in social media. I have donated my services for the past four years to raise money for my sons school. What sets me aside from other photographers is that I always work with my clients budget. I don’t want photography to fall in the category of luxury. Everyone should be able to afford a photographer who will provide quality photos. Coming from a lower class income family, I would have loved for this to be accesible to us. I am working on a proposal to be able to own a mini van loaded with photography equipment to be able to photograph people on the street using their surroundings and architecture as the background, and use these photographs to beautify Chicago neighborhoods. Other photographers photograph skylines and landscapes, they photograph people and highly edit them. I want a person to feel enough, because they are.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I believe the city has a lot to offer. It have gained inspiration and vision here. People are excited to start something new in the city and they are always looking to collaborate with other humans. It’s easy to feed off of each other in the city, maybe because we are all so close in proximity. One thing that we can improve as a city, is to carry out a project that includes all neighborhoods and communities. To include all race, gender and age. I would love to see the elderly be more involved in projects.
Contact Info:
- Website: nancyvalladolid.com
- Email: nancyvalladolid@gmail.com
- Instagram: nancyvalladolidphotos
- Facebook: Nancy Gaby Valladolid
Image Credit:
Alison Simonian and Nancy G. Valladolid
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