Meet Jose C Narvaez | Professional Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jose C Narvaez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jose C, how do you define success?
Success is something I believe everyone longs for, it’s something that we are taught about since we are children. We go to school to be successful, we play sports to win, and we push ourselves past our limits to achieve success. Yet success isn’t necessarily something as easy to define as black and white. No, success is something that is individually defined by each and every one of us, no matter what it is. I would define success by my happiness, many times we admire those in higher positions than us, whether that is financially or in just a job position. I can say that I have been in that position myself, but nevertheless, my success is defined by my happiness, as if I am happy that means I’m doing well, with my career, my family, my relationship, and with my friends. My success is a big part of my life, it’s what drives me the majority of the time, same as my happiness, because in my opinion there’s no point in having an abundance of money or fame if you live unhappy.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a photographer, I dabble in both fine art and commercial photography. I believe what can set me apart from others is my work on immigration, it is what I am the most proud of because it is about me, I come from Mexico and so does the rest of my family. These series or sets of photos are about my people, my family, it’s about the thousands of people who look for a better life, stories that need to be shared with the world. Getting here was something that took a lot of trial and error, I was constantly taking pictures of people and landscapes but I was never fulfilled with the stories that I was telling. I felt that there was something more that my pictures could be doing. My end goal is to create images that are cinematically pleasing, yet that doesn’t romanticize anything, because the stories that I tell don’t always have happy endings. There’s not a lot of representation of people from my background, and I would like to change that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are so many places to visit in the DFW, it’s really hard to narrow things down but, for some great food, I would take them around Fort Worth to eat at different taco trucks, one of my favorites being Tacos Jimenez off of Seminary St. A great place to go for a walk or even have a picnic with friends and family is Trinity Park in Fort Worth, you get to see some of the best sunsets from the river while being in the city but still being surrounded by nature. A great place to get some drinks and relax with a couple of friends with a great atmosphere would definitely be Nickel City.

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 definitely an abundance of people that have pushed me and believed in me throughout my journey. The most prominent are definitely my professors Letitia Huckaby and Mann Paho, as they both saw something in me that I didn’t. Other people are my parents who always gave me their full support, my friends who are practically my siblings, and my girlfriend as well, who always agreed to be a part of my photoshoots without any questions. Without any of these prominent people in my life, I’m not sure that I would be were I am today.

Website: https://josecnarvaez.myportfolio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.narvaez_photos/