Meet Maria Prieto | Graphic Designer & Photographer

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

Hi Maria, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
What makes me happy is to be able to walk in the street without fear, to be in the place I want surrounded by the people that I love. Doing what I like the most which is photographing, walking, designing.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m graduated as a graphic designer, I started working since I was in the university. I worked designing some magazines and making identities for brands. When I met my partner, Pablo Íñigo Argüelles, I knew I was as in love with photography as I was with graphic design. So my love for photography started growing, it started with an analogue camera that my uncle gave me as a gift, I didn’t know how to use it, but as all the big and beautiful things It started from the enthusiasm of not knowing anything about it. When we had a box full of negatives, we decided to give a name to what we were doing and that’s how Proyecto Análogo was born.

Proyecto Análogo focuses on the palpable: chemical photography, printed publications, but also on narrating the daily life of objects and cities. We want to tell the world as we see it. We’ve been collecting camera throw almost 8 years, and almost all of them have come to us by coincidence, as if for some reason they had chosen to be with us. That is why we feel an enormous need to give them back their use: to complete that natural connection that exists between us and those objects. Therefore, all our photos are a journey in themselves: the discovery, the encounter, our relationship with the cameras, the observation of our surroundings, the development process. At Proyecto Análogo we do everything with our soul: our work speaks for me and my partner Pablo Íñigo Argüelles

I’ve learned to be generous and humble. I have had some challenges that almost ruined my project, but I’ve always been surrounded by people that care about me and have helped me to move forward.

I want people to know that Proyecto Análogo is made for and by friends, mentors, family, ups and downs, and lots of love.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
While I’m leaving in New York, I will take her in the morning for a coffee and breakfast to my favorite Dinner which is two blocks from my place it’s called Zafis. After that I’ll go to the International Center of Photography which is the place where I work, and has an amazing museum.

In the afternoon in the afternoon we would take a bike ride to west village to visit Washington Square park and to eat quattro formaggi lasagna in my favorite restaurante called La Lanterna di Vittorio.

Because we are gonna be so full from everything we ate, we will walk to the east village to say hi to my favorite people in Manhattan, Don Pompeyo and Doña Mary, the owners of a tiny Deli called Zaragoza Mexican Deli, drink a beer, eat (more) a burrito, and dance mexican songs.

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?
I would love to dedicate this to my mom, she is the one that taught me to be kind and she has the most beautiful heart I’ve ever known.
She has always supported everything I want to do, all my projects, ups and downs. She is also an artist and since I was a kid she used to give me crayons, markers, and lots of drawing books to take everywhere and never get bored. I feel like my creativity started there and it never ended, I was always eager to create and imagine a new world with my drawing tools.

Website: https://prietomaria.com

Instagram: proyectoanalogo

Image Credits
María Prieto