Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabet San Miguel.
Elizabet, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
To begin this story, we must go back to the beginning, to Mayarí, one of the municipalities of the Holguín province, in eastern Cuba in the spring of April of the year 1988 when I was born. And although my mother wanted to call me April, my father named me Elizabet. I am just 32 years old this 2020, one of the most disturbing years in the history of humanity. Still, I have not lost faith for a rehabbed 2020 but from time to time, I lose faith in human improvement (something I must work on).
Before continuing, I want to thank the magazine team for taking an interest and sharing stories of creators, entrepreneurs and human beings in general, whose goals are to make their dreams come true, contribute and leave a trace that can guide others!
I also give thanks for this interview because it makes me remember once again where I come from and where I want to go, but above all, where I come from. I am a root of the great tree that is the family San Miguel and Márquez, every day I identify more with the place where I was born, where I grew up, that other place where I proposed my two great objectives, to enter the university of the arts (ISA) and to come to The United States.
Nothing seems strange now, but leaving my country, leaving everything, my blood family, my family of friends, my acting career that started very well because although my father wanted me to be a musician, I chose acting, I have the ability to play with different personalities and to live life as if it were a great game of attitudes.
Well, nothing seems strange anymore, on the contrary, I thank every day for having arrived in this country, where little by little you get used to being far away and missing because there are two ways to miss, miss when those who stay, when you leave and miss when you stay, those who leave, that’s the worst. And since 1997, I learned to miss when grandmother and grandfather, cousins and uncles went to the country of dreams, for me at that time, the wonderland. Since then, I was one of the groups of those who stay missing.
We lived in Mayarí until I was nine years old when we decided to go to the capital. Once in Havana, we stayed at the house of my uncles, who at that time had to travel to Russia, where my uncle was assigned the position of Vice Consul for five years, almost enough time to decide whether to stay or return to Mayarí. If I had something very clear from a young age is that of the phrase “never go backwards, even if you need it to gain momentum.” I didn’t want us to come back and after five years, and once my uncles returned, we started our adventures of moving, although returning was what my father wanted more. I met many people, neighbors, schoolmates and even more, in addition to learning how to make each place I come to, my home.
I started at the Art Instructors School in 2000 in the specialty of Theater, where I studied for four years. There, in addition to directing and acting, I received music, dance and plastic arts workshops. Finished those four years where I graduated in Arts and Literature. I continued with acting, but I became mainly a theatrical spectator, I was part of the public for a long time while cooking ideas and scripts among friends that were as I was, part of many unfinished projects, workshops and works in progress.
Wanting to continue my career as an actress, I started preparing to enroll in the University Of The Arts, the first thing I had to do was obtain my Highschool Diploma, and when I had the diploma in my hands two years later, I took the university admissions exams and passed. Having accomplished one of my great goals and starting at the university, one thing led to another and I ended up in another city, the birthplace of my theater career, Matanzas, two hours from the capital.
There I met Pedro Armando Franco, director of Teatro El Portazo (dramatic theater) and Rubén Darío Salazar, director of Teatro de Las Estaciones (puppet and figure theater), in my opinion, two of the great directors of Cuban theater. There I lived for two years while we were touring the entire island with the shows “CCPC” by Pedrito and “Los dos princes” by Rubén. This was the only way I could get to explore my country from end to end while winning all the prizes that a theater group can win. One thing led to another and the opportunity to fulfill my second objective presents itself, coming to the United States. Now I had to decide which of the two princes was the most important for me.
I could have chosen to continue university for four years. Graduating as my career as an actress grew, but no! The idea of coming to the US had been around my head for too many years and this perhaps would be my only opportunity so I couldn’t possibly let it pass. Having finished the theater seasons and the paperwork arranged, I went down the rabbit hole and landed in Alice’s Wonderland in 2016, where my mother Flor Marquez had already landed six months prior, as my grandmother had claimed her.
It was so easy, after 30 years of waiting, so easy to leave Cuba that I am ashamed, I am ashamed of so many deaths, so much separation, so much sadness to which Cuban families have been subjected, I am ashamed of the forms of government, I am ashamed of my country, and I speak of Cuba because it is where I come from, but I could speak of any country where its inhabitants decide to emigrate from their land in search of fertile soil, although this is something that we can talk about in an upcoming interview.
My father had left in one of the previous years back to Mayarí. He did not say goodbye, perhaps he thought to return, the truth is that he never adapted to living in Havana. And although the highlight of this interview is not my specialty, acting has been a key point to distinguish truth from falsehood and that has helped me a lot in photography, another of my current obsessions.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There will always be some type of obstacle, and even more when there is not enough income. I come from an everyday Cuban family, that although my father was able to buy some motorcycle parts and build one like Frankenstein creation, sell it and with the money buy his first car, we were still Cubans part of the majority, who had to “hunt” for what to eat daily, to look after the essentials, to survive, to change washing machine motors for pork and to have, when we could, a goat that would give us milk every morning.
My mother and father were the first to fight for us, and it was all worth it, especially since when those memories come to mind as photographs. I feel like they are a crucial part of who I am and who I want to become. One of the main struggles with fear was when we lost our regular jobs and we decided to get the photography studio going, dedicating most of our time to it. Many times we did not have enough money to pay for everything necessary and most of the income was destined for investments.
Of course, always looking everywhere for some freelance work while growing as a business, we were clear that we wanted to be owners of our time and even though we also had to continue working hard, we would do it for our own business and ultimately ourselves.
One of the first problems to solve was that of finding a space large enough to serve as a studio, and our decision was very practical, we rented a house where we could live and where we could have the studio at the same time. Our home, in each session, also becomes our workplace. We love natural light, so we use a large window that we have in the room to let in that light.
Another of the struggles was trying to do the job somewhat commercially, there are very difficult parameters to break and I want to please my clients, in addition to paying my rent. The market has great competition and many times you have to go with the flow. Of course, we inevitably put our personal touch on it.
Something even worse is that social networks limit promotion and do not open their doors unless you pay; it is something that artists must take into account when promoting our work. Promotion is something that takes a lot of work and time and ends up being exhausting and expensive. We have even had to study marketing!
And as in all public works, we have had to learn to cope with certain types of attitudes, including those who do not find value in your work simply because they do not find value in themselves and no matter how much you make them appreciate themselves, it is not enough. I have learned the value that my work and my time have.
Miguelangel Photo Studio – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Already living in the USA, I received the news of my father’s death. I couldn’t describe the pain I felt if I tried. I was farther away than normal and that is when I felt that distance. After a year had passed of this tragic event, a friend mentioned a cinematography school here in Miami where I could study photography and editing (the new characters in the personalities I have had in life). I thought I would feel closer to my father if I learned more of the things he knew himself. Just like him, I love pictures. The theater was my teacher in this subject. It taught me to enjoy pictures as symbols and to learn how to communicate through them.
I was lucky to find an angel in my path, a spectacular being with whom I share nowadays my life and work. We are one, he is my best friend and my lover, one of the best people I know. We walk side by side and motivate each other and strengthen each other as well. He is a fan of photography as well as a pianist and choir director. He already had equipment to begin, as well as a registered company called Photo Splash, which he had created two years prior but hadn’t started developing, so we pushed it forward together and decided to change its name to Miguelangel. Yes, our studio has inherited my father’s name, which is my main pride. I know it also would have been so for him, a symbol of identity and love.
Our logo has his signature, by his own hand, taken from his Cuban identification document. My father was a passionate photographer, self-taught and artistic. As my mother tells me, he had a book from which he studied the theories, and he had a darkroom in my grandparents house for the processing of analog photography. When the first digital camera reached his hands (must have had a 200ml lens), he took wonderful pictures, which I remember well. One of them was an 8×14 inch picture of a hummingbird fluttering over its nest and eggs. That photograph seemed astonishing and extraordinary to me. I have still to the day never seen a hummingbird so close and detailed like the one my father showed me in that picture. At that moment, I wasn’t aware of its accuracy. Imagine the natural frequency of a hummingbird’s wings is about 20 to 50 times per second, and at times it can reach up to 100. The flight speed of hummingbirds makes them oftentimes undetectable to our eyes. Now I relate the bird to time and the picture to the present. That picture managed to freeze the flutters of the hummingbird. It managed to tame it. It was able to stop time. My father’s legacy.
I feel that I learn from each session, from each photographer and each client. That’s why I think we succeed each day a little more. We do sessions inside and out of the studio, but I don’t have a favorite place for them. I like the places and the models to guide and inspire me. Needless to say, I also don’t have favorite models, although I love photographing my family. I simply try to capture the light to appreciate it. The light isn’t only external, we are beings of light and we are capable of radiating it when we are under the influence of feelings like happiness, calm and peace.
My partner and I work in the company alone, but when we require services like hairdressing, make-up, or other, we hire a specialist. We are both artists with great taste and lots of sensibility and I think that makes the difference. I feel that we provide an artistic touch which we apply from composition of the image to the editing of the same. I like working the natural, fresh and spontaneous opportunities that the moment provides. That is why it is important that our clients feel comfortable in our sessions, so that is also part of our work. In truth, we love what we do and that is the key to it all. Our studio is open 24 hours a day, with that, we provide a wide margin for all schedules and sessions.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Johan Bacallao, the person I thank for supporting me and loving me. If it wasn’t for him, perhaps it would not have been possible to have our studio working today. He is an excellent photographer and we complement each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://miguelangelphotostudio.com
- Instagram: ej_photo_studio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miguelangelphotostudio/
Image Credit:
Miguelangel Photo Studio
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