Meet Elisa Lopez | Photographer & Storyteller

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

Hi Elisa, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Growing up, I never considered myself particularly artistic. Whatever I thought that word meant at the time. I grew up in a family of lawyers and business people; Quite honestly, I never thought of pursuing art as a career until much later in life. However, what I realized as I got older is that my parents were constantly exposing me to multiple mediums of art. Both film and music in particular were an integral part of my childhood, and continue to be very important to me today. Specifically, my dad is someone who has a great admiration for the arts, and I think that appreciation and awe definitely rubbed off on me.

Towards the end of high school, I asked my parents for a camera. Not particularly because I had this “aha” moment where I wanted to start expressing myself creatively, but simply because I wanted to start capturing moments in my life. By the end of my senior year, I had decided I wanted to attend NYU. As I was browsing through their programs, I saw that the art school offered a photography program, so I looked into it and decided to apply. After I got accepted and moved to New York, my whole perspective of what a career in the arts really looked like completely changed. As a result, I was able to look at my future in the arts distinctly.

I tell this story because I’ve learned that a lot of the best decisions that I have made in life have always been intuitive. Photography as a medium of expression, for me, happened very organically. “Choosing” art as a career was intuitive. I don’t look back and see a specific moment where I made an executive decision to pursue art. It’s just feels like it couldn’t have happened any other way and now there is no question as to whether or not I want to pursue art, it’s just what I feel I was made to do. I have come a long way both in finding myself and my voice as an artist, and I am only at the very beginning of my career. All I can say is that it is a very exciting, challenging, and beautiful time for me and I am eager to continue to share my work with the world.

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.
Every voice is unique, and what sets me apart from other artists is just that, my own inimitable voice. I think of my art as an extension of myself, and this involves tuning in to my subconscious, letting those unique thoughts and ideas run wild in my mind, and eventually allowing them, through my skills, to become something concrete and beautiful.

Making art is not easy. It requires sheer vulnerability, which is probably the biggest challenge I have faced, not only as an artist but as a person. I only now realize the power and strength in vulnerability, and how it has helped me come to many realizations about what I want to do and share as an artist. Professionally speaking, I am only at the beginning of my career, and there is still so much left for me to learn about expressing my voice as an artist and how to do so effectively. However, I am loving the process and am taking every opportunity as it comes.

I am most proud of how far I have come in taking the steps and doing the emotional work of realizing that this is what I want to do with my life, and that there is only going up from here. I’ve learned many lessons in getting to where I am today, some of which I only realized were lessons long after they happened. I think the biggest one being to let go of fears that debilitate me and to be open minded to all the opportunities that I am given. Important also, is listening to and heeding my intuition and not letting bad energies cloud my judgement. Life is a journey of self-discovery and for the artist, of self-revelation, and my art will evolve as I evolve. I want the world to feel that my art comes from a place of my own, a place that I want to share with others

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was visiting the area, I’d definitely spend most of the days at the beach and just hanging out doing something chill. Miami is such a vibrant city, and its only getting better. I’d have to hit a lot of the new restaurants that have opened up; La Natural being one of them. Maybe after i’d take them out to a fun bar or lounge with a group of good friends. I mostly like anything as long as there is good music and a good crowd.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to the incredible support system that is my friends and family. They are everything to me, and without their encouragement and belief in my abilities I wouldn’t be anywhere. My inspiration comes from them and I hope that they continue to push me to challenge myself and my boundaries.

Website: www.elisalopezz.com

Instagram: @elisalopezz_

Twitter: @elilopez98