This submission is from Jacob Martinez, a portrait photographer from Toledo, Ohio. As the title suggests, it details some time he spent in Mexico.
Having not been to Mexico (yet), all I have is an image in my head of what it might be like. And I can say this – that image has never included rural suburbs of a city. That’s one reason I enjoyed looking through this set.
Another reason was the portraits at the end. Posed portraits aren’t something I often do, so again it’s great to see and be inspired by something different.
Here’s Jacob to take you through it all.
A Trip to Mexico
“As film lovers, we would never go to any destination without packing a decent supply of film. I did exactly that when I took a three month trip to Jalisco, Mexico.
To be more specific, I took a whole pack of Fujifilm 200 and Superia 400 that I found on clearance sitting on a Walmart shelf. I packed it all up alongside my Pentax Spotmatic F and flew out to Guadalajara, the place I would call home for the next three months.
I quickly found myself snapping away at random everyday things, including doors, chairs, cats, most of which I would be too embarrassed to show on this essay.
I found myself most attached to the pictures I took of the rural outskirts of the city. Maybe it was the city that looked tiny in the distance or the horses that kept me company that I loved about this area, but the pictures speak for themselves.
Finding myself back in the city I was constantly being inspired by this bustling, noisy city. I am very often taking pictures from the car window.
I like the view and perspective this gives me because it reminds me of the experience of driving through a certain place. Anyway, here are some of the more urban shots from Guadalajara.
Other than landscapes and shots of inanimate objects, I love taking portraits anytime I get the chance to travel. Meeting the people is always the best part of traveling.
Sometimes a portrait can be what connects two people. Here are a few of the portraits I was able to capture while in Guadalajara too.
Overall, while maybe not intentional, bringing Fujifilm 200 and Superia 400 was a great idea. I like the skin tones Fuji 200 is able to give me for portraits and I love the colors that I get back for landscapes.
I would highly recommend Fuji 200 and 400 for anybody planning to travel, especially such a colorful country like Mexico.
My experience developing film in Mexico
While in Mexico, I was too impatient to wait to return home to develop my film. I searched all over Guadalajara for a proper film lab only to find a camera store chain that had a broken film processing machine.
My impatience led me to send two rolls of film to a local pharmacy that did about as good as a job as any American pharmacy or grocery chain. I was not a big fan of the process and would recommend that you wait to get back home to process your film.”
Wrapping up
I told you those portraits were going to be good. I especially like the final one. Awesome use of the light coming in from outside the car.
I’ll wrap this up by saying thank you to Jacob for this submission and leaving you the reader with the bio he included too.
“My name is Jacob Martinez and I am a portrait photographer from Toledo, Ohio. I typically shoot most of my professional work on a Panasonic GH5 (which I love), but dream of the day that I can shoot professionally on film.
I love traveling and finding new faces to photograph. I hope you enjoyed my pictures of Mexico. Since I love nothing more than talking about Guadalajara, feel free to contact me if you ever plan a visit to Mexico.
If you liked my work, visit my Instagram page and my website to look at more of my work.”
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