Meet YaYa Marcano | Photographer & Creative Producer

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

Hi YaYa, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The security in my knowledge and the desire to help others, has ultimately been what emerged as the beginning of the process to start the business. I saw that the need of others to generate photographs of themselves and quality images for their social networks was a real necessity and somehow help others to work on their self-confidence and development in front of a camera. I have a lot of passion for teaching, I had a nice time as a university professor at a School of Journalism and Audiovisual in Caracas, Venezuela and I wanted to develop a project where I would give my clients the possibility to learn and carry their social networks according to their own style but in a professional and aesthetic way.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been fortunate to be in many areas within the art world, such as photography and music and at the same time professional experience as a journalist, director and creative producer of television programs and documentaries, in addition to having been the youngest professor of five professors at the Santa Maria University at the Faculty of Social Communication and Journalism in Venezuela for 6 years.

It all started very young when I started with the passion of photography and video and when studying my career as a journalist I was already practicing as a camera reporter of famous humorists in Venezuela, after that I made short films and produced musical video clips of which I allowed me to be somehow linked to music. After graduating as a Journalist in 2006, I produced a series of television commercials and participated in the creative production of a political documentary about the importance of maintaining democracy and freedom of expression in my country. Two years later I was a scholarship to study at the International School of Film and Television in Havana – Cuba to study a postgraduate course in Digital Cinematographic Publishing and returned to Venezuela to work in the production of short films, film projects and film festivals.

At the end of 2010 I received the Production Coordination of the National Cinemateca de Venezuela and I had the opportunity to direct and produce a documentary and an album in a human rights-oriented project called “Son Cautivo, Voces de Libertad” documentary that tells the story of 22 imprisoned men who became a Salsa orchestra inside a prison, an experience that transformed their lives and left a legacy in that place since they, in addition to performing instruments, learned to be part of the production team of their own film in the scenes inside the Prison.

During 2012 and 2014 I held multiple lectures on the documentary “Son Cautivo” at the University of Palermo and the University of La Plata and Human Rights institutes in Argentina and at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Subsequently, I decided to move to Buenos Aires and start a Master’s Degree at the University of Buenos Aires in Latin American and Argentine Theater and Film Studies, in order to polish the knowledge about cinema and theater but from a higher academic point of view without leaving aside the realization and the passion for producing. This is how I began to combine meetings with directors and screenwriters and at the same time I held lectures on Film Production, Human Rights and music. With music being so present, I began to work as a photographer and cameraman on stage within the Luna Park Theater in concerts by recognized Latin American artists and bands such as Maná, Miranda, JBalvin… and a year later I started as a post-producer in dubbing projects on Fox and NatGeo channels for the entire audience of Brazil, there I learned the Portuguese language as a second language and refined many engineering techniques in sound and mixing series and movies. Argentina had become a second homeland and traveled to Brazil every time it entered the studio.

In 2018 I arrived in the United States with a lot of desire to undertake and carry out photographic and cinematographic projects, I started writing in a newspaper in Miami as a volunteer and made some reports, the most relevant was about “the red thread of Venezuelan migrants” in reference to that Japanese legend that connects people regardless of distance or time. At the same time he worked in a Gas Station and there together with a Jamaican colleague, an actor, we made some recordings and we called the project “the gas station project” that tells the story of several comedy situations, inside a convenience store and 24-hour service station in serial format. At the beginning of 2022, through some friends I find myself at the opportunity to participate as an assistant director in a play in Miami and he presented himself on the Paseo de las Artes Regency where I took the photographs and videos for the play, the lighting and sound design and began to get involved with my own project of mentoring, creativity and content development for personal brands and companies through photography on Social Networks.

Definitely the key is not to forget who you are, or your passion, or your knowledge no matter where you are, migration has taught me that no matter how difficult dreams may seem, they can be realized if you have the right approach, I am excited to feel that having so many experiences in different countries made me an orchestra woman, thinking that having worked in multiple creative spaces and in different countries allows me to move comfortably between photography and camera, creative production, journalism, audiovisual direction, project development and the music scene.

My biggest challenge was to keep the focus on what I wanted to do through the conferences, the photographs and everything that brought me closer to my passion, knowing that many times and that it can be very frustrating to work and invest time in activities outside our professional area, when I could not practice, I studied and when I could not study, I taught others and imparted knowledge, I donated photo sessions for artists and actors of the local theater.

It has not been easy, especially starting from scratch from country to country. Lesson! Do not give up and work as a team, surrounding yourself with people who share a passion is enough to combine and develop a project.

I would like the world to know my photography project for entrepreneurs and to have the opportunity to learn how to break the ice in front of the camera and let yourself be guided by my experience through the realization of their photo and content sessions.

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?
It would be a week for North, South, East and West, when my friends come I like to make adventure and short trips with them that allow us to go from one place to another without taking a lot of time to go dancing or have some drinks. I would ask them to arrive at the Miami airport and from there we would go from one to the Banchero pizzeria that is on Collins Avenue and we would remember at once those long walks along Corrientes Avenue in Buenos Aires but with a nice “Miamero” rhythm, I would take them to rest for early the next day to go to Orlando to visit at least one of the amusement parks, Universal is undoubtedly the most desired park for them, the next day in Orlando I would take them to Wekiwa Park to enjoy the beautiful crystal clear waters and I would make them a Delicious roast, before 5 in the afternoon we would be back south to go and listen to live rock at Johnnie Brown’s a special bar that is in Delray Beach where every night there are live bands and it is very close to the beach, the Downtown of this city is very nice and it is spectacular to take nightly photos, so obviously I would make a mini photo shoot for the memory.

On the fourth day we raised the intensity a little and we would go to Haulover Beach to experience the connection with nature just as God brought us into the world, although it is not mandatory to take off our clothes, I know that the photos in non-explicit nudes on the beach would look beautiful. Near this beach there is an Arab – Venezuelan restaurant that serve the sandwich combo with a touch of Caribbean, surely there in Pita Pocket we would retaliate with hunger to end up walking through the small Downtown of Hollywood and end up in Coquitos or Tardes Caleñas dancing a little Salsa and shaking our hips.

I would definitely go shopping, because yes, sometimes we like to go around a Mall from time to time, the fifth day would be to go west and we meet half a day at the Sawgrass Mall and at night follow the party at Mojito’s Bar.

The sex day I would let them rest in the morning and we would have lunch at Flanigan’s because coming to the south of Florida and not having as a memory that unique recipe of ribs and taking that green glass that you will surely use as a pencil holder as a memory is an experience that must be lived, I write thinking about how funny it would be to tell this plan to Renato Valença, actor and dubbing director, who is my best friend in Brazil with whom I worked in that dubbing studio in Buenos Aires and with Mere Alcantara, journalist and marketing strategy who is my best friend In the Dominican Republic.

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 is a group of key people who since my arrival in the United States have been small doses of vitamin before the breaks of effort. I have to give special mention to Steven Camon who for more than a year and a half we have forged an alliance and we allow ourselves to polish our previous experiences in the development of our projects, taking his example of constancy has truly been a shot of energy, our businesses are of different specialties and niches, but they have been linked in the production of photographs and content for our social networks, planning of events and interviews, the production of a podcast and in the future develop a non-profit organization that helps entrepreneurs to develop their projects.

Instagram: @YaYafilm