Meet Sinuhe Xavier: Artist

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

Hi Sinuhe, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
After being a professional ski mountaineer for The North Face, I was pretty much unemployable. Photography was a way for me to create my own life. After a time photography became too restricting and I pursued film. It was during that time that I realized that if I looked at what I was doing as fulfilling the client’s needs I would always feel trapped. When I started to perceive myself as an artist rather than just a photographer, just a filmmaker a whole world opened up to me without boundaries.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Right now I’m excited about my first gallery show in Mexico City at LOOT MX in September. It’s a huge shift for me doing work that is just for me.

In 1994 everything was an obstacle or so it seemed. There was never enough money for film & processing or gas to get to the next halfpipe contest. My memory is that we, as a collective group of snowboarders, never let it slow us down. We always figured it out. We slept 5-6 to a hotel room, ate saltines with honey that were free at the lodge if we couldn’t score free Power Bars. We just figured it out.

Growing up in Montana I think a person learns early on that complaining isn’t going to help and that the only person you can really count on is yourself. I never saw challenges as hurdles, they were just things that had to be dealt with. Camera case gets stolen at the airport, deal with it. Carnet going into Morocco is wrong, deal with it. Agents say they don’t want to represent an action sports photographer, find one that does or start directing. Client taking their sweet time paying for a big job that you’re basically leveraged to the edge for? Sell your car.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them out of the city and to The Mojave National Preserve. When we got back I’d take them to Yucca’s on Hillhurst for the best Torta’s in town. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When I first came to Los Angeles from Colorado after shooting Snowboarding for years I was completely lost. No clue how to navigate the wild landscape of LA. I went from having a solid career shooting snowboarding in Colorado to being a PA on commercials and music videos. Luckily for me one of those music videos Joe Hahn of Linkin Park was directing and he took me under his wing. He let me borrow equipment, helped me creatively and in general inspired my self confidence. % years after moving to LA I was invited to join the Directors Guild of America for my work on commercials.

Website: www.sinuhexavier.com

Instagram: sinuhexavier

Twitter: sinuhexavier

Image Credits
Photo of me: Scott Tgoepfer