Paki


Se habla español.

Phone: (415) 623-4680

Emailp

My name is Paccarik, which means “born free” in Quechua, the language of the Peruvian Incas. I was born and raised in Lima, Perú, during a very unstable era in my country. The government was dealing with constant terrorist attacks from Sendero Luminoso, the “Shining Path” guerrillas. The constant fear of the Peruvian people had a huge effect on me, which perhaps explains my interest in photojournalism. While I was growing up, my uncles were the most influential people in my life. They were both obsessed with health and physical fitness, in addition to 70’s rock music. The walls of their bedrooms were covered in posters of their favorite artists performing live onstage. Those images of Mick Jagger and Robert Plant will always remain in my mind’s eye. They, together with the fashion and portrait photographs by Mario Testino that I used to see in magazines, inspired me to be a photographer.


Although I was interested in photography, I did not yet know that I would end up pursuing a career as a photographer. All I knew was that I could not stay in Lima because my family was having problems and I feared that I would have no future there. At the age of sixteen, I moved to Miami, Florida and went to live with my uncle Jimmy. As I adjusted to my new life, I continued to look at photos in music magazines and my interest in photography continued to grow.


In 2000, I bought my first SLR camera, a Nikon FM10. I instantly felt captivated by the whole process of taking pictures. I started to teach myself the basic aspects of the craft through books, and later, I attended several photography workshops. One day, with remarkable luck, I was offered the opportunity to assist a photographer in a few shoots for People Magazine en Español. Through that experience, I learned about how a photo shoot comes together. That experience made me realize that that was the path I wanted to follow.


As I continued my struggle to become a professional photographer, I came to the conclusion that I was stuck. I wanted to learn more about lightning techniques, in studio and on location, and learn more about the digital aspect of photography. These were things I could not learn by myself. I’m currently living in San Francisco, working on my Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Academy of Art University, and hoping to never have to wait tables again, finally able to make my living doing what I love. Reaching this point has been a long, hard journey, but I feel optimistic about my future now, for the first time in many years.