BABE #337: AGNES LOPEZ - Photographer
Agnes is a Jacksonville, FL-based commercial and editorial photographer for various outlets, from regional lifestyle magazines to trade and business publications (the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, HGTV Magazine, Food Network, etc). When she’s not hard at work behind the camera for one of her various clients, she’s pursuing personal projects and using her talents to tell important stories that are near and dear to her heart. She’s creative, intentional, and one heck of a talented BWH.
The Basics:
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
Current city: Jacksonville, Florida
Alma mater: University of North Florida
Degree: Business Marketing
Very first job: Retail associate
Hustle: Commercial and editorial photographer
The Interests:
Babe you admire and why?
My mentor, Linda Nottingham. She has been an incredible resource from the beginning of my business, offering advice on everything from incorporation and taxes to dealing with both failure and success. Linda volunteers her time mentoring women in business in Northeast Florida and I can’t thank her enough for her guidance.
How do you spend your free time?
Searching for great, off-the-beaten-path restaurants
Go-to coffee order and/or adult beverage?
Iced vanilla latte from Bold Bean Coffee Roasters.
What would you eat for your very last meal?
Medium-rare ribeye steak.
What’s something you want to learn or master?
My dream is to be a polyglot. I am currently taking Spanish lessons and watch Tagalog movies on Netflix to keep up my Filipino language skills.
The Hustle:
Tell us about your hustle.
I am a commercial and editorial photographer. I do headshots, food, and editorial assignment work for various publications that range from regional lifestyle magazines to trade and business publications. I’ve photographed for the Harvard Business Review, New York Times, HGTV Magazine, Food Network, and more. I am also the staff photographer for Jacksonville Magazine.
What does your typical workday look like?
My typical workday involves setting up my studio for shoots, greeting my clients and guiding them through the photo shoot, editing and processing images, and responding to inquiries and sending out quotes. I go from photographer to editor to marketer to studio manager every day.
Tell us about the Faces to Remember Project.
As a Filipino-American woman, I am acutely aware of the return of anti-immigrant rhetoric that mirrors another dark time in American history, when policies like the Filipino Repatriation Act and Rescission Act were signed into law to erase the colonial ties of the United States to the Philippines and take away the promised benefits from Filipino veterans. The Faces to Remember Project is a series of black and white photographs of Filipino World War II veterans—some of whom are survivors of the Bataan Death March—whose amazing stories of perseverance and courage need to be shared. The portraits aim to show each person without ornamentation, impacting viewers through an authentic expression. I began the project in the fall of 2017, photographing subjects in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and the surrounding area. The life story of Patricio Ganio, a Bataan Death March survivor, Purple Heart recipient, and civil rights hero, compelled me to learn more about World War II in the Philippines and the Filipino veterans’ 75-year fight for equity and recognition for their service. It was a subject I had been taught so little about yet had a direct effect on my family; my uncle joined the United States Navy and was the catalyst for my family’s migration to the United States. My hope is that The Faces to Remember Project will inspire viewers of the photographs to learn more about the Filipino-American connection and reexamine their views on immigration and the history of the United States. My ultimate goal is to stage an exhibit with the Faces to Remember portraits in Washington, D.C., where the project will be on display for the people who decide our immigration laws.
How have your past professional and academic experiences prepared you for the work you do today?
The business courses I took in college helped me see myself as an entrepreneur and gave me the tools I needed to set out on my own with a real business and marketing plan. Of course, no business starts in a vacuum, and over the course of my career I have had to adjust my business plan to account for changes in the market and where I want my work to be.
What’s been your biggest career milestone?
Beyond the Faces to Remember Project, I would say my biggest career milestone has been the completion of my new studio. I now have a dedicated space for my commercial and food work, with a full kitchen and client area. It was the culmination of over 15 years of work and planning.
How has being a woman affected your professional experience?
Being a woman has made me have to work even harder to prove myself. There have been times people have assumed on shoots that I am a photo assistant and not the principal photographer. In the past I even kept my photo off my website so prospective clients could only judge me on my work. We need to continue to push for diverse voices in our media and promote ourselves to editors and art buyers.
What’s the gender ratio like in your industry? Do you see it evolving?
Commercial and editorial photography are still very male-dominated. There are campaigns happening at all levels to change this, and I am hopeful that female and minority voices will become part of the larger photography industry in a meaningful way.
Are you involved with any other side projects?
As a food photographer and Filipino-American, it just never sat right with me that while my hometown of Jacksonville has the largest Filipino population in the Southeast, Filipino foods are generally absent from the area's culinary scene. So, a little over two years ago I started JAX Filipino Chefs, an organization with a mission to share Filipino culture and food through the talents of the Filipino-American chefs of Jacksonville. For the past two years I worked on a documentary film about our organization and the experience. You can learn more about it (and watch the trailer) here.
Career and/or life advice for other babes?
(1) Take business classes. Being a creative is great, but you need to be able to take your skills and make them into a sustainable business. (2) Never stop learning; become as technically skilled in your craft as possible. Knowing you know your stuff will give you the confidence to take on the most challenging jobs. (3) Be nice!
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