Diego Ortiz Mugica

I am a passionate and persistent photographer who seeks beauty in every image I capture. I often say that my perspective is "borrowed" because my photos surpass what I am as a person; evidently, there is something or someone helping me. I find myself in the middle of nowhere, and something calls out to me, prompting me to take a shot.
With my work, I aim for the synthesis, balance, and harmony of beauty.
My passion for photography began at the age of 12 when I stumbled upon the school photography club's darkroom by accident. At 13, I borrowed my dad's camera from the closet, a Voiglander Vitoret without a light meter.
At 18, I traveled to Formosa to take ID photos of indigenous people. I also took other types of photos in that community, and when I returned, I was amazed by the results. To this day, I evaluate my photos as if they weren't mine. What I felt at that moment defined my vocation.
Perhaps out of obligation, I enrolled in university to study Social Communication. At the time, my teacher was Pedro Luis Raota, and I worked at his school. One day he told me, "Advertising is for advertisers, and photography is for photographers. You are a photographer."
I dropped out of the program and dedicated myself to being an unwavering seeker of beauty.
Black and white (and gray) is my choice. I feel it allows the viewer to complete the image and evoke unique emotions. The great masters who move me worked and still work in black and white: Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Richard Avedon, John Sexton, Raota, of course, Edward Weston, among many others.
I work both analog and digitally, mixing technologies and enjoying both processes. But my first love will always be film and the darkroom.
For me, technique and sensitivity are equally important, and I seek to blend both to create impactful photographs.
Being in communion with nature is an essential need in my life. I enjoy time in the Patagonian forests, steppes, lakes, rivers, and mountains, as well as the waves, sand, wind, and sunsets in Uruguay. My perspective continues to be surprised, and every day I train it to see with greater intensity and simplicity.
I am easily moved; I consider it a gift, a reflection of my deep connection to the beauty of the world and my gratitude for the life I have lived.
I am thankful every day for the ability to breathe, for more years of life, for the incredible family I have formed, and for the opportunity to live my vocation. Each image I capture is an act of gratitude toward the world around me and an invitation for others to contemplate the beauty found in every corner.