MARTIN S. FUENTES
Is a freelance Visual Journalist currently based in Los Angeles, CA. I am currently developing several personal fine art multimedia projects on issues covering the economy, social differences, environmental health, and pop culture. My vision as a visual journalist is to creatively portray story-telling visual art that shows both harsh truth and joyful optimism, through simplistic defined beauty.
I feel after the last ten years growing not only as a photographer, but also as a man and human being, now at 30 years old, I feel that I am coming of age with a deeper sense of purpose. A sense that there is far more important things happening in life and around the world that is much more important than myself.
After one year attending a community college, I decided to join the United States Navy in order to become a naval photographer. There I served five and half years documenting naval life, where I learned that discipline, patience, and attention to detail result in quality. This experience assured my commitment to excellence. After my honorable discharge from the military, I spent the next three and half years completing my Visual Journalism degree at Brooks Institute of Photography in Ventura, California. There I learned the technical aspects and training of becoming a successful Visual Journalist. During my studies at Brooks, I also completed two photojournalism internships in a newspaper environment one at the Topeka Capital-Journal in Topeka, Kansas, and the other at the Ventura County Star in Ventura, California. I graduated from Brooks on September 2007, and spent the next two plus years contributing as a freelance photojournalist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Recently I have decided to spend my time using my visual journalism background to develop multimedia fine art travel documentaries. I am currently available for assignment in the USA for all commercial, editorial, fine art, or multimedia projects.