Manuel, can you share with us what initially sparked your passion for photography, and how did you nurture this interest before formally pursuing it in 2009?

It all started when I was a little boy growing up in small town in central Mexico. I discovered boxes of old photographs that my mother had. I enjoyed looking at them and imagining the stories behind them. Then, my uncle lent me the first camera I ever held in my hands—an old 35mm Pentax camera—and at that moment, I knew that making art would help me search for my own voice, my own space in this immense world. Unfortunately, he asked for the camera back after a while and my economic reality did not give the space and time to nurture my interest in photography until much later in my life.