Meet Mauricio Gutierrez: Visual Artist & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mauricio Gutierrez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mauricio, what do you want your legacy to be?
Growing up I always knew I wanted to make a diiference one way or another. I strived to be known by people and always had an urge to impact people’s lives in a positive way. I feel the same with my photography. As for my legacy all I can say is I hope someone could look at my photos and feel inspired to either start photography, or to simply remind them to go out and create art. I wish people could remember me as someone who truly had a passion for the art they created. That means more to me than any number of likes or followers. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started photography because I wanted to able to capture things around me and express myself through each photograph. Most of the time I already know what shot I want before I even get to the location. However, it wasn’t always like this there was a lot of trail and error to endure before being able to have an “eye” for things. Even now I am still learning but I am proud of the progress I have made these last two years. I think the hardest part about starting out is believing in yourself when no one else will because it really does feel that way in many instances. Nevertheless, experience and practice is the only way one can get better and I strive to be better at my craft everyday. Nothing is impossible and I’ve learned that through photogrpahy, the world is my canvas and as long as it exists so does my art.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being from the Inland Empire there isn’t a lot to do here. Most of the time I do have to venture out into LA or other nearby counties. With that being said, visiting LA is a must. I’d take them to eat at Shake Shack first and then walk around DTLA shooting photos. As sunset starts to hit, there is a cool looking parking garage with an amazing view at the top that I always love to visit. The week would consist of visiting some secret spots with amazing views that I know of. There is also an amazing cofffee shop local to me that sometime hosts comedy events or live music. Overall our time would be spent eating and adventuring to different places to take photos. I’ve always been someone more spontaneous that makes up things on the go rather than have a whole plan a day before. Nevertheless, it would be time well spent.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many amazing people who have made a huge impact in where I am today with my work. I appreciate those friends and family who have reached out to me since the beginning and those who let me practice with them when I was first starting out. Secondly, I couldn’t have progressed this far without the amazing photography community on twitter that I have been so lucky to be apart of. It is filled with insanely talented and kind people and it truly feels like you’re apart of a huge family.

Website: mauriciog.darkroom.tech
Instagram: @lucidlens_
Twitter: @lucidlens_