Today we’d like to introduce you to Edward Leal.
Hi Edward, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I am from Venezuela, and I arrived in the United States on May 18, 2007, at the age of 38, full of illusions like all of us who arrived in this country. The first thing I did was focus on my legal stay in the country and after six months of achieving it, the big question came up. What will my profession be in the United States? I was a merchant in Venezuela and the last business I had left a mark on me, which I told myself the day I don’t get what to do, I’m going to be a photographer. The fact was that in my local I had a jewelry store and they made rings gold earrings to sell throughout Venezuela and they hired a photographer to take photos of his work for their catalogs. but his business was closed for remodeling for 6 months and he sent me the photographer to work in our business, but when I interviewed him he told me, I am a photographer and I don’t know how to do anything else, just take photos and I asked him, can we set up a photography studio? Photograph in a space that was unoccupied? And he answered yes, and I decided to set up the photography studio and I did so well with the studio that it gave me more money than the other businesses, it was a success… and here I decided to be a photographer because of that story. I met an excellent wedding photographer who liked his work so much that I told him he could work with him for free and at the hours he wanted. After insisting so much, he accepted me, and I worked for free for about three months until he started to pay me.
I lived in Boca Raton at the time and when I moved to Miami I started looking for my own clients; the organizers of Miss Universe Miami 2015 hired me to cover the event, after that the owner of Brickell and Key Biscayne Magazine called me and I hired as a photographer Since then I have had enough work to support myself full time in photography, I have had jobs outside of Miami such as Colombia, Chile, Bahamas, Philippines, Mexico, New York, Newport, etc., I have been very lucky. I believe that perseverance and perseverance make a person successful
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been very hard work because in Venezuela I raised my son since he was five years old and then when I brought him here, he was also quite hard with my work, and keeping an eye on him was not easy; my goal was for him not to stop fulfill in going to his school.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Since magazines hire me for photos, I have to do everything, from editorials, portraits, events, sports, real estate
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
I have not had risks as such in this career
Contact Info:
- Website: www.magnatephotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magnatephotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edwardlealmagnate
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnxa_OpTGBaf2CdxyCPazhA
