MARIO E. RESTREPO

Brooklyn, NY based Photographer                                                                                                                             

An Orlando, Florida native, I have a great fascination with the sun and an appreciation for natural lighting. The Florida landscape is sewn into the fabric of who I am; exploring the forest and crossing through creeks in my adolescence fostered my love for nature and animals. As a child, I could blink, imprinting precious moments onto my memory. I've now lived in New York for three years; and , while it is vastly different, the subjects continue to be the same. As an adult, I use cameras to immortalize those people, events, pets, places, spaces, and structures. My eyes continue to be in perpetual sensory overload; however, my mind wanders and races with all the beauty, creativity, and individuals that inhabit this new wilderness. 

I started dabbling in photography right before the digital era. This allowed me the chance to learn film cameras and how to fill a frame, making every photo count because film rolls were never endless. As my interest in photography deepened, I took a deeper love for black & white photography. Developing my own B&W film and printing my own negatives in the darkroom further altered the way I saw things. By creating my own world through B&W images, I became enamored with the rich tonal values and drama delivered from these photographs

Most of my life has been spent as a watcher, studying the way humans and animals move and react towards one another. I get lost in the intricate details of one’s face and just how uniquely different yet similar everyone is.

The goal of my photography is translating my vision by creating questions and ideas of how one might see themselves, challenging their own self-perceptions.