DOUG MENUEZ

Doug spoke at a local ASMP event recently here in Richmond and really indulged his audience with secrets. Doug started with his teenage history and how he came into photography and led us using the photos he took. He went on to tell us about his first few jobs in photography and how he eventually found himself in advertising. Doug is very involved with his community and really gives back to other photographers through seminars and the like. Along with giving back to photographers he really tries to give back to the world by actively working with groups such as Empower African Children.

Ok, so this sounds like most seminars but here is where Doug is different. He admits he still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life but has a general idea. This is great to hear because everyone has that fear at some point in their life, and to hear this from an established pro helps make sense of things. Doug is different because he also lets us in on some secrets to success. Some key points on this he made were to let go of fear, unless you do so you can't move forward. Also, he told us how he became happy with what he was doing. He looked back at the work from when he was starting out and figured out why he liked that body of work. He then really pushed for only working with people who hired him for his artistic eye, rather than telling him what to shoot. The latter is a risk that had to be taken in order for it to ever come to fruition.

Doug has worked in Silicon Valley and photographed the mid 1980's computer business explosion. Having worked in many of the same buildings he took pictures in years ago it made for a really interesting connection between his work. While I was in Palo Alto I thought about the technology that had been created their and the workforce environment. Doug captured the essence of that by his style of capturing "the moment". Doug offered inspiration to me on a simple basis of shoot what you love and take the risk to do so.