My introduction! 📸

Hello, Steemians! My name is Maria Gabriela. I am 27 years old and I am from Caracas, Venezuela. I studied at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and recently got my degree in Business Administration but I am a photographer. I invite you to get to know me a little bit through these lines.

In my childhood I was a dreamer and I like to think that there is still a little bit of that in me. I enjoyed all the arts and crafts, gymnastics, puzzles, painting, the sea, music, books and movies. I have always liked and been interested in many things.

The one who knows me knows that my family is the most important thing to me and my siblings above all else. On August 28, 2000 my life changed when my first brother (Carlos) was born, it was when I became a sister and a second mother for him, at the age of 10 my priorities were other, my parents worked and I took care of my little brother with my grandmother, it wasn't a responsibility for me, I enjoyed it a lot. On December 28, 2003, under totally different circumstances, my second brother (Juan) was born and from then on my path through life had the best company I could have asked for.

As for my academic background, I can tell you that it has been varied, as I mentioned earlier, my interests have always been very diverse and maybe that's why it was extremely difficult for me to choose what I was going to do as a professional.

I started my way to university thinking that I would dedicate myself to the field of health, I took the test to enter the School of Nutrition and Dietetics at the Central University of Venezuela but I was not accepted, however, I was accepted in the School of Sciences for the Biology career and that is how I started my career at the UCV. I always wanted to be a marine biologist so for me studying there made complete sense, I discovered an unexpected interest in chemistry and its laboratories, all the branches of biology caught my attention but it wasn't what I imagined, I understood that this was not the path I was looking for, as time goes by I felt really frustrated and I made the decision to leave this career, which was not an easy decision to make considering that I had invested almost 2 years of my life there.

The following semester (year 2011)I managed to change careers and entered to the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the Central University of Venezuela in Administration and Accounting. It made sense, my father is an administrator, my mother was an accountant, I grew up in that environment. It took me very little time to realize that this was not what I wanted either, what a frustration! I felt that I was among super cold people, the subjects were getting heavier as time went by, not to mention the teachers, the loss of time thanks to prostests, etc. made it much more difficult to tolerate but this had already become a personal goal, I had to stand firm and finish my career, I wasn't going to accept it any other way and that's the way it was, I got a little attached to this test that I had put me, on the way I discovered subjects like marketing, budgets, costs and others that I liked and enjoyed. After 3 semesters lost due to protests, frustration and all the ups and downs, I was under Calder's glorious clouds, had made it and was already a Bachelor of Business Administration.

)

But how do I discover my love for photography?

I didn't know that being a photographer was a profession, for example, my grandfather was an architect and since I can remember I always saw him in his workshop with all his projects, surrounded by plans, tools, building. He had hobbies like gardening and cooking, but it turns out he was a photographer. He did several jobs in the area (which I don't know about), and although he mentioned it, according to what I heard, he took pictures, it was something anyone could do, so he was an architect.

At about the age of 8 my grandmother introduced me to art, enrolled me in a painting course at the Museum of Fine Arts and took me religiously twice a week, I loved it and I felt like someone else every time I stepped into the museum, made her take me to the museum every other weekend because that was where I felt happy. As time went by I realized that art is part of who I am.

Estefanía Marcano, my little cousin was the one who gave me the boost I needed. We spent HOURS in front of a mirror taking pictures, talking, laughing. But it was at the end of 2012 that it all happened, I was very frustrated with the university and my cousin (who understood me) said that it was enough, that for the first time I should do something I really enjoyed and recommended me to enroll in a photography course, I had no idea what she was talking about, photography? Where did she get that from? Well, I tried. I signed up. From my first day of school until now I've been grateful to have listened to her, suddenly everything began to make sense.

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized it was always in me. When I was 9 years old (I remember the year perfectly because my mother was pregnant with my brother) we were on a beach and my parents had one of those disposable cameras that everyone had at the time, we were leaving and I took the camera and begged my mother to let me take a picture of something that had caught my attention, I ran and ran but I couldn't get to the palm trees I wanted to capture, I made two photo attempts to remember the place but I couldn't get the photo I wanted. The good thing about my family is that they keep absolutely everything, yet it took me over a year to get these photos but I did it.

At the back of the first picture you can see the palm trees I wanted to photograph but it was impossible to get to them, in the second one I tried to photograph what was on my right, where the palm trees would be if I had walked a little more. Obviously they are not museum photographs, but they are an important memory for me, it was my beginning.

Then at the age of 11, on this beach that we used to visit every weekend, the same story is repeated, I am amazed when I see these pelicans flying over the sea right in front of me, I took the camera and without knowing what I was doing, without any knowledge of the rule of thirds, composition, nothing, just my instinct and my amazement at what my eyes saw I decide to capture that moment.

(Again, remember, I was only 11 years old and didn't know anything about photography)

But why? Why? Why would a 9-year-old girl be interested in catching some palm trees? Why should the way these birds flew over the sea be so appealing to me? I didn't understand it, nor had I thought about it until I began to know myself and to accept myself for who I really am.

On my way through photography I started out very interested in landscapes, I felt that it was the only thing I was going to photograph, I loved being able to see everything that nature gives us every day and the purity of it, and I took those photos that filled my soul every time I clicked, and one day I discover one of my photos (at the Grand Canyon) has been selected as an honorable mention in the Venezuelan mobile photography contest as "best international photo". I felt accepted, I felt that I was finally at peace with myself.

And I kept studying, I kept learning, I kept practicing. Later on I discovered my passion for Street photography, I was selected for a black and white photography exhibition at the Dimitrios Demu Museum (Anzoátegui State), other of my photos were published on the MoMA website and that's how my path has been up to now, I know I'm doing well, I'm not yet where I should be but I finally know where to go.

Thank you, cousin, for always being right, for having guided me on my way and for continuing to do so every day even if you can no longer hold my hand, I love you.

I invite you to continue discovering a little more about photography through my experiences.

Photographs taken by: María Gabriela Marcano
@Magaland
Iphone 5s and Nikon D3200