Bio
Riley Sotomayor is a photography student at Grand Arts High School in Downtown Los Angeles. Riley tries to capture what we can’t admire because of lack of time. She believes that people see what they want us to see rather than what is truly there. She finds her creativity within her neighborhood and the many people who surround her in everyday life. Riley’s biggest influences are Tyler Shields and Damon Baker, two very different photographers that make very beautiful art. These photographers inspire her and make her never want to give up on photography. Riley hopes to continue to capture beauty that people don't seem to recognize in the moment. She believes that humans often miss the most important moments in life without even realizing it, but she wants her work to capture this for people so they don't regret it. Small or big, this is Riley's dream.
Life is full of memories. We often see the past, present and future so different throughout time. We grow from all of our experiences.
Growing up, when everything got quite i would find myself talking to my dad about my house and the old fire that happend. I always associated the fire with my dad and how it impacted him.
For this project, I dug through some old photo boxes and pulled the images from the fire out to see them for the first time. It was so surreal. I always heard about the fire and thought it was like the movies, but it’s really different to see people you love lose so much. My dad always talked about it like the most difficult thing he ever went through, which is hard because he went through a lot growing up. The images put a perspective on things you wouldn’t normally need perspective on and connects the story without having to say more.