Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Adame.
Melissa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Despite growing up in a home where I was expected to excel academically and encouraged to pursue a career in Marine Biology, art has always been a part of who I am. I attended a science and engineering high school with a rigorous academic curriculum. There wasn’t enough time for me to express my creativity with all the AP classes that were piled on every year. However, I always had a fascination with photography. I began to explore photography with a simple point and shoot camera that my parents bought me. Eventually, I joined a photography club, yearbook club, and bought my own DSLR. Senior year I received my acceptance letter to A&M Corpus Christi to major in Marine Biology. A month before graduation, I began to rethink my entire life and realized that I wanted to pursue a career in photography. I ended up applying to The Art Institute of Dallas where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Photography. I entered college wanting to be an editorial high fashion photographer but left with a love for food photography. Currently, I am working at Dick Patrick Studios as a photo assistant and digital retoucher. I can honestly, say it’s been one of the best experiences of my entire life.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like everything else in life, nothing came easy especially when I put so much pressure on myself to excel in everything I did. There are too many struggles that I could talk about but the biggest one would have to be struggling with mental illness. I’ve had severe depression and anxiety since I was 12 years old. Going through art school with these two things constantly weighing me down made me doubt my capabilities and talent all the time. It was a constant battle with my mind that made me hate everything that I was creating. However, after taking a food styling class with my professor and mentor, Gary McCoy, I found my safe space. Growing up in a huge Mexican family, food was always something that brought us together and comforted us. I found my passion for food photography and this gave me the strength to push forward and put one hundred percent of myself in my craft. Eventually, I worked up the courage to ask for help and I am no longer afraid to take risks or push my creative limits.
Please tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I specialize in food photography and hope to open my own commercial food photography studio in the near future. My work is heavily inspired by my Mexican heritage and growing up with my grandma Lala who loved cooking. I am proud of the way I have developed my own lighting style that brings out all the textures and color of the food I am photographing. It took a couple of years for me to truly understand the art of lighting food well and I could not have done it without the help of my instructors and mentor, Dick Patrick. One thing that sets me apart from others is that I style all the food myself. One of the most important parts of food photography is styling. I admire the work of all the food stylists I have met at my job and wish to collaborate with them in the future. For now, I have taken the time to appreciate the art of food styling when I create my own images.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I plan on opening my own commercial food photography studio in Dallas. For now, I am happy learning and getting all the mentorship I can from my job. I am planning on working with some new clients in the near future once I get my portfolio where I want it to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adame.photos
- Phone: 214-478-0096 (text)
- Email: adamephotos@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/adame.photo
Image Credit:
Photo of me by Kyler Parker
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