Meet Julien Salinas | Photographer & Art Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julien Salinas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julien, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have always had a huge passion to begin working in sports. This led to me thinking about getting into sports business and even once wanting to become a referee. But as I looked into more careers in sports I found sports photography. I instantly fell in love with the thought of taking photos at any and all sporting events. I just want to get the opportunity to take photos of the numerous amazing moments that happen in sports. I recently read a quote in Rick Rubins’ book The Creative Act: A Way of Being that said “Artists allow us to see what we are unable to see, but somehow already know.” This quote is exactly how I feel about photography. It allows us to see others in such a pure and unfiltered way and in sports we are allowed to see those raw moments of shock, joy, and sadness that we normally wouldn’t see from the athletes. Learning about this lit a fire in me and has now created an unrelenting passion to make this my career.

What should our readers know about your business?
I feel like what makes me different from other photographers is the fact that I make sure that I do my research on who I am taking photos of. I will look at both teams find the star players and learn about them. I feel like this helps me how the athletes play and what kind of players they are. It also helps me when trying to position myself on the field/court. Lets say I am taking photos of a football team whole runs the ball 80% of the time that tells me to watch the running backs and the Offensive line as well as the defensive line and linebackers during the game. But I pride myself on taking photos of everyone because even though you may not be a star player everyone deserves to have those memories.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would start the week off by going to HeeMee Coffee + Bakery. Then we would take a trip up to Mount Lemmon so we could go to the Cookie Cabin and maybe even Ski or Snowboard while we are up there. Then we could go visit The Pit which is a food truck park on 22nd street. I would also bring them to Bosa Donuts to get some donut holes and some coffee. I would lastly bring them to Los Taco Apson to get probably the best tacos in Tuscon.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and girlfriend have been my biggest supporters throughout my time taking photos and going to school. My family has always told me to never give up even when things may get hard. They also try their best at finding new camera equipment for me and finding games for me to take photos at. My girlfriend helps me so much with staying focused and motivated when I am getting burned out or lazy. She has helped me so much with my confidence about taking photos in public and posting my photos. She’s honestly one of the main reasons I felt confident enough to this interview. These people in my life have helped me so much throughout this process and I am so grateful for them all.

Website: https://badjujuphotography.mypixieset.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badjuju_photos/