Ballet is more than just a subject for photographer Patricia Martinez: It’s her central focus.
“I’ve been a photographer forever but as a business, I just started doing this in 2005,” said Martinez, who specializes in shooting ballet and ballerinas at her studio named Canela Photography at 2690 Historic Decatur Road in Liberty Station’s Arts District.
“Ballet photography is my lifelong artistic pursuit,” she said. “I really enjoy collaborating with dancers.”
Partly inspired by her son, Jared, who is now a professional dancer with San Diego Ballet Company, Martinez has had her own private studio in the Arts District for two years.
Jared trained at a dance school in Liberty Station for nearly a decade, which influenced his 42-year-old mom to find a new home there. Patty Martinez has also found steady work with San Diego Ballet. “I’ve been San Diego Ballet’s official photographer now for the past three years and I’m traveling with them for their Nutcracker tour,” she said.
“My passion for photography surfaced early in life when I would study old photographs for hours,” Martinez notes on her website at canelaphoto.com. “I realized in those early years the power and importance of recording memories for future generations.”
But Martinez became laser-focused on ballet once her younger son took up the craft. “I’ve always admired ballet,” she admitted. “So when my son expressed interest in it, I nurtured it. I also started doing his audition photos, which dancers need every year when they apply to different dance schools showcasing their abilities. It’s part of their application.”
Pointing out photography has “always been a part of me,” Martinez said, “as a teen, I admired a lot of fashion photography. I studied fashion photographers to see how they would use light or create their pictures. But I never envisioned myself doing photography as a business. It was just a hobby, an interest.”
The photographer was drawn to set up shop in the Arts District for a number of reasons, including its beautiful architecture that had a lot of character. “I loved that as a backdrop for taking photos.”
Martinez admitted, “Ballet has hooked me.”
Of the rationale behind that, Martinez said: “It’s one artist working with another, which makes it different from just a family portrait. With ballerinas, it’s more of a collaboration. We play off each other’s creativity. Each photo session is different. I try and make sure I take pictures at exactly the right time when they are expressing all their skills in the right way.”
In Barracks 19, Suite 208 in the Arts District where her studio is located, Martinez is surrounded by painters exhibiting their artwork in the hallways.
“I don’t have a gallery where I show my artwork,” she said. “I use that space to photograph dancers in a studio environment. It’s a tiny spot, but we make it work. I just love being there because I’m surrounded by artists. It makes me feel more like an artist.”
Martinez makes ends meet with her portrait photography, adding that ballet photography “has been my outlet to get back to a happy place with photography.”
Added Martinez: “You start selling your photography, it becomes work. Once it becomes work, it’s not so enjoyable anymore. So ballet photography has brought me back that joy of creating. Photography is just part of my identity. It’s just become who I am.”
Martinez’s work is available for purchase on her website.
CANELA PHOTOGRAPHY
Where: 2690 Historic Decatur Road in Liberty Station’s Arts District.
Info: canelaphoto.com.
