Art & Adventure with PJ Ortiz Luis
The online portfolio of Pacifico "PJ" Ortiz Luis, a storyteller utilizing different mediums of art including film photography, dance, and performance poetry.
my first Polaroid in...18 years? not a big fan of polaroids....but i got suuuuper lucky that one of the polaroids i bought still had original Polaroid film in it.[they no longer make the film, or own the rights to make it] i think i may pick up a pack of Impossible Project film for my upcoming trip to norcal.
Its a new year, and we're supposed to focus on self development right? RIGHT. that's exactly what i'm doing. this is my first roll of self-developed b&w film. everybody is right, you feel very proud of yourself after the negatives come out clear. i feel a little bad because i've taken business away from my favorite photo labs...but i also feel the sensation of freedom and self sustainment.
photo by Doc Pop
For the first time ever, recently I was called a "hipster". I've been jokingly called that before, and even called myself that sometimes...but its different when its coming from somebody you aren't close to/talk to regularly/just met and built a good rapport with.
There is nothing wrong with being a hipster. I see them as this generation's beatniks. However, I really really dislike being categorized or defined with single-word labels by other people.
Ever since I can remember, I have defined myself as an artist, and an individual. I'm sure even people who only know me because they follow my youtube or twitter or instagram can vouch for that. Or is it because I have a typewriter and shoot film?
I've had an appreciation outdated technology for quite some time. I still collect vinyl. I have real boomboxes that I play my music through when I dance. I watch VHS tapes of my favorite movies. I'm more public about it now that I see people on social media using their phones to emulate stuff that has existed for years.
Everything that I've always been interested in is now considered "cool" in mainstream culture. Am I mad about it? No, definitely not. I'm just glad that they've finally caught up.
i am laying on the ocean floor
holding my breath
i look up and see the light
refracted from the surface
a stingray eclipses the sun
all i see are sea stars
the past month i've been having a big inner debate with myself about whether i should continue shooting color, or if i should pick up black and white. the reason this question was ever raised, is because i will be starting to develop my own film very very soon. i hear that color is a pain to develop yourself, but i'm willing to go through the trials because i love color.
one of my favorite artists preaches that there are so many colors that we have available to us, and it'd be a horrible waste not to use them all.
i will be starting to shoot b&w film very soon....but until then, here are some shots from a recent roll of Fuji Provia 400x processed in E-6.
