Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystina Fernandez.
Krystina, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My interest in photography first started as a freshman in high school. I was heavily influenced by Tumblr and all of the photography that came from it. As a Christmas gift, my mom bought me a Nikon d3100 as my first DSLR. I was snapping pictures left and right for a while but then didn’t pay attention to it as much. When my senior year in high school came around, I just had an urge to use my camera more and I would take a lot of portraits of my partner at the time. I started carrying my camera to school and took photos of my friends as well. I would ask them to hang out and we’d cruise the city and take photos. I had also taken a basic photography class in college which challenged me and taught me intentions and patience with my photographs as we were given weekly tasks. I took all that knowledge and just continued experimenting with my camera over the years. I started collecting film cameras as well. I purchased my first film camera around 2016 and finally put it to use at the end of 2020. Since then, I’ve been shooting film consistently and my love for photography has grown. There is so much that I’ve yet to learn and the film community in San Diego is amazing and inspires me to keep photographing.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say my journey has barely begun since I started shooting film in 2020. I didn’t take my photographs seriously for a long time and never thought I would be capable of creating images that stand out let alone make money off of them. My photographs have drastically changed and became more appealing to the eye rather than my digital photographs. That’s also due to just experiencing life and capturing moments in time that represent me or the people closest to me. With being an artist that also comes with a lot of pressure especially due to social media. As I watch people continuously putting out images, the imposter syndrome kicks in. I am always trying to improve and become aware of when I am going through a creative/mental block and try not to force anything that doesn’t come naturally.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I consider myself to be an intuitive photographer. I don’t specialize in one thing, but many. I enjoy portraits, candid, creating a story, or street photography. I also take photographs of lowriders and I’ve received a tremendous amount of support and recognition from them. But on a weekly basis, I will go out into neighborhoods that are not as central, or the city and have my camera ready to snap at any moment. Whether it’s a portrait of a stranger, a car photo, or a landscape of the city. Growing up with major social anxiety and still struggling with it, I give myself credit for putting myself out there more and accepting opportunities as I’ve shied away from them so many times before. My confidence has grown when it comes to capturing a stranger or anyone for that matter and I would say that’s my biggest accomplishment.
Contact Info:
- Email: kryystinaa@gmail.com
- Website: krystinafernandez.com
