Over at our Instagram account we’ve shared a great many photos by talented local photographers. These photographers have, in one way or another captured Downtown El Paso through their own lens opening up the way everyone else sees it. Below, in no particular order, are what we feel to be 11 photographers to watch on Instagram.
We’re not sure if Danny Lizardo is his real name but his photos are the real deal. Danny has demonstrated diversity through his portrait work, photo manipulation, coverage of timely events, and urban shots like the one above that optimizes light and color.
Ralph Kelley lives and breathes B&W photography. As binary as that is, his subject choices are equally as juxtaposed. Kelley, snaps the realities of urbanism so honestly, sometimes you can taste the grit just by looking at the photos. Conversely, Kelly takes portrait photos that embody the strength of the subject in a way that is distinctly his own.
Mark Lambie isn’t a young photographer rediscovering Downtown with his camera, he’s a seasoned journalist. It’s easy to miss his byline when the photography is so striking, but Mark isn’t searching for great architecture or composition, he’s searching for the story, the humanity, the soul. Downtown just happens to be full of soul and Mark is full of humanity. Don’t let the masterful artistic elements fool you, you’ll find the humanity in all of his stories too.
Tony Holguin III works in both B&W and color photography. Through the catalog of photos on his instagram account you’ll find everything from sunsets to street photography. Tony captures life happening, or light happening with playful snapshots of window reflections with layers of content within them. From skylines to street mimes, you can tell Tony is constantly looking to satisfy an inner hunger for new subjects.
Tony Holguin III works in both B&W and color photography. Through the catalog of photos on his instagram account you’ll find everything from sunsets to street photography. Tony captures life happening, or light happening with playful snapshots of window reflections with layers of content within them. From skylines to street mimes, you can tell Tony is constantly looking to satisfy an inner hunger for new subjects.
Downtown may not be the subject of Christy’s photography, but if you’re looking for a great backdrop in Downtown, she’ll find it. Christy finds the warmth in all of her portrait photography, and does it with aplomb!
Out of nowhere a handful of urban photographers with a synthwave aesthetic emerged in El Paso, and George Chacon is one of them. A self-professed urban street photographer hunting shots nocturnally, George captures Downtown in a way that evokes a neon pulse within.
Steven Currey is a street and automotive photographer according to his account information, but his “South Border” company name exemplifies his voice more succinctly. Border flavor is everywhere but not always easy to capture in a photo. The culture in El Paso is the galvanization of two countries and a region not wholly one thing or the other. Steven manages to tell the story of the border with respect and admiration.
Keith, doesn’t shy away from the reality of street photography, nor does he balk at the epic drone shots of our majestic Downtown. What Keith does is elevate the reality into an ethereal level of color, texture and mood in a signature photo manipulation style. In a year that has been challenging to say the least, a little sprinkle of fantasy in our world is welcome.
Patrick Craig blipped on our radar when he submitted and won our DTEP Authentico photo contest in 2016, and since then he was also the feature photographer in our DTEP wall calendar last year. Patrick is a street photographer through and through, managing time after time to capture the essence of a person simply living their life without judgement. The photos are beautiful high contract slices of life with a note of melancholy.
If a photo could resuscitate a Downtown, they’d be photos taken by Kiyoshi. Thankfully Downtown El Paso has been alive and until only recently has been pulsing with life stronger and stronger each year. Not until this year have we seen a pause in activity, if only the kineticism in Kiyoshi’s photos could revive it. Kiyoshi finds all the detail, the corners and crevices, the pockets of shadow and bands of light that make up our urban center. It might look dormant, but its still alive, like all of us are. Photographers like Kiyoshi prove it with each photo.