Meet Suzie Mendez | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzie Mendez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzie, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I discovered my love for photography in 2014, the year I graduated high school. My very first photo shoot was with a couple of my friends, just photographing their cars in front of an old downtown theater in Abilene, Texas. I knew absolutely nothing about camera settings, composition, or even editing. My camera was in “Auto,” so I just pointed and shot. I used PicMonkey back when it was free to edit those photos and boy, were they WAY over saturated. But I was only experimenting and figuring out my editing style. From there, I would just go around campus at Texas Tech, where I went to college, taking photos of the buildings and sculptures, but wasn’t really taking it seriously. Then the summer after my freshman year of college, my friends and I went to the Vans Warped Tour Music Festival where I took a photography workshop with Rock Photographer Lisa Johnson. She taught us about life in the industry and the basics of what Rock Photography is. Once the workshop concluded, she handed us our photo passes so we could spend the rest of the day in the pit taking photos of any bands we wanted. That’s when the light sparked inside of me. I was a natural at it. My camera glued to my face the rest of the day, I took thousands of photographs that day. It was the best experience of my life. From that day forward, I started to take this photography thing a little more seriously.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I landed my first real photography job with America’s Best Sports Photography in Fort Worth back in 2018 shortly after moving to DFW. It was a side hustle, and one that I kept in my back pocket when I needed some extra cash until I moved to Florida (where I currently live) at the beginning of 2024. I did headshots all over the metroplex for different sports teams consisting of kids ages 2 to about 15. It was a good source of extra cash, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be long-term. Getting up at 3am on a Saturday just wasn’t for me, I guess. I also got into wedding photography for a short period of time. I was only a second-shooter, but it was a lot. There’s a lot to learn about wedding photography but once you get into it, I can see how it’s actually pretty fun! Finally, two years and a whole pandemic later, I got a full-time job as a school photographer for Glamourcraft School Photography.

Unbeknownst to me, several of my coworkers were familiar with and had worked for America’s Best. It was like seeing a whole new world of photographers; one where everyone treated each other like family and made me feel apart of it, too. I was with Glamourcraft until 2022, when I stepped away from photography altogether. The burnout was so real. I was going through a lot in those two years. A divorce, figuring out my sexuality and what it means to me, learning to live by myself again, bad roommates, the works. I wasn’t motivated by it anymore. I was just trying to survive.

Now another two and a half more years later, I have decided to step back into it. I am going to start with taking portraits of my friends, specifically my queer friends. My expertise is in portraits and I enjoy being around people, so why not take the time to spend more quality time with my friends and get some cool pictures of them, too? My overall mission is to empower queer people to feel comfortable, confident and safe in their skin. As a queer person myself, I know what that feels like. If I can help people that I already love and care about plus maybe some friends of those friends or complete strangers feel like the strong, bada** people that they are through my craft, I think I’m living a dream.

So, the moral of the story here is that I just need to start taking sh*t more seriously. Because seriously, I am so passionate about photography and LGBTQ rights and people. Ask anyone who knows me, hell, even ask my therapist and they will all tell you that photography really is a part of me and so is my queer journey. And after many years of self discovery, I am confident enough in myself to help others who are like me.

I currently work at Best Buy as a Sales Advisor while I figure this whole “life” thing out. It’s funny how life works that way. I feel like I have been given a second chance to try again. Currently, I am in the process of going back to school to study psychology. For real this time. And I want photography to remain more of a hobby for now. I don’t want my income to depend on it and I want to take on projects that will be fun and challenging. My goal is to get to a point financially, where I can just do photography and nothing else.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In DFW specifically? Oh boy. There’s so many places I love in Texas. My best friend and I are kind of lame though so I’ll do my best here.

First, I would pick them up from the airport and take them to First Watch for brunch (Yes I am assuming they land by brunch time because my best friend and I LOVE a good brunch date). And if it’s summer time, we are heading back to my apartment (and I imagine I live in the nice part of Dallas so I have a SUPER nice apartment) and get some drinks ready before heading out to the pool. We’d be there for the rest of the evening, ordering pizza from Parma Pizza, and gossipping.

Then we spend the next several days going on adventures to the Perot Museum of Arts and Sciences, Dallas Zoo and Aquarium, Fort Worth Zoo and Aquarium, going on walks in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, catch an event at the Gaylord Texan Resort, go into the ball in Downtown Dallas at golden hour. Get some sushi at Blue Sushi Sake Grill, treat ourselves to some fresh haircuts with another good friend of mine, Emily Alcorta! (big shoutout) and even make a reservation to have dinner inside the ball overlooking the Dallas Skyline. We’d have to go to the Fort Worth Stockyards too. Just to see all the cool shops and have some more good food! We would have to visit Sue Ellen’s at least once just so we can people watch and she can experience it for the first time. We would also have to go across the street and get a tattoo plus some more pizza. I honestly cannot think of the names of the tattoo shops or the pizza spot in the “Gayborhood,” but if you know, you know!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have a few people to shoutout. First, Lisa Johnson for saying, “Never stop taking pictures,” that day at Warped Tour. She said, “Nobody sees what you see. Someone may have taken a photo of the same place before, but not through your lens.” I’ll always remember these two phrases. She started the fire in me that day and I’ll forever be grateful. I also want to shoutout everyone who let me use them as subjects for various photo projects I’ve done over the years. You guys are the reason for keeping my love for photography alive. To all of my friends who consistently reminded me that I am talented and could really do something great with this. I appreciate the words of affirmation more than you all know! And lastly, to my partner, Melissa, for pushing me forward and constantly telling me that I need to do this. That I need to take my photography business seriously and just do it. She’s another reason I haven’t given up on this vision. She sees the potential in me and she consistently pushes me to pursue it.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thequeer_photographer

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/suzie-mendez