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

Hi Cara, what are you inspired by?
There are so many things that inspire my art and what I create. Everyday little things from how my coffee makes me feel in the morning to my evening drives home after my work. I feel like really simple things still fascinate me like recently I traveled on an air plane and growing up I have traveled so many times in an airplane; more times than I can remember. I still get excited and wonder how airplanes can defy gravity. I get excited flying through clouds and getting a window seat. I let life and everything around me inspire me really often. I especially let my feelings of love and sadness drive my creativity. I love creating photos that make me sad just looking at them. Many of my photos aren’t extremely planned and designed to come out a certain way. I enjoy the accidents in film or letting other people take pictures of me and seeing how it comes out. I don’t like to put too much pressure on creating.

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 am a photographer and overall creative. Over the years I have progressed slowly in my opinion but I am very happy with where I am today. In the beginning of being a photographer I was shy because I didn’t have the portfolio to back myself up, I thought not having the best equipment (I still don’t have the best equipment) was something to be embarrassed about. But everyone starts somewhere and all I did was spend time practicing. A lot of the time I have imposter syndrome with photography and don’t always mention that I do it. Learning to believe in myself and be confident with what I do was extremely important. It is crucial to be honest with who you work with and learning how someone else envisions something is a part of the work. I continue to learn from working with different people and photographing models, products or clothing. I enjoy working with people who can teach you something new about creating or cameras and they don’t make your feel embarrassed for not knowing something.

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?
Let’s start with my favorite coffee spots for breakfast and that is Tilt Coffee Bar, Boba later in the day at Tea Maru, Dinner and and Beer at Wursküche, and dessert at (OF COURSE) Salt and Straw (the arts district location specifically). I don’t think I’ve tried enough things in the city but these are a few of my favorite places to eat. I do love a good sunset and I stick to the beach right in Long Beach with friends or alone to watch the sky turn into cotton candy.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give this shoutout to my friends that I have and they know exactly who they are. I have friends from different friend groups and parts of my life and they all support me more than just creatively.

Website: www.carareece.art

Instagram: @caragonzales

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/carareece

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