My parents were blessed with two little boys at the same time, Angel Adrian Palomares Gonzalez, and me. We were born on January 25th, 1982, in the biggest city in the world, Mexico City. Ricardo Palomares Gonzalez is my birth name and my brother and I were the youngest of four sons. I was reserved and fearful most of the time.
I remember being afraid of almost everything.
Angel was the adventurous one. It seemed like he wanted to explore everything. In a way, I think he had no idea what fear was. He never cried, he never complained. Life was such a wonderful journey for him. One day, he was exploring like most of the times, when he found a bottle of Chlorox. He died when he was two years old. I think about my twin brother a lot. In a way, I feel that there is something missing.
For some reason around the age of twelve, I started to feel an urge for adventure. Out of nowhere I suddenly changed. One day the fear was gone. I only wanted to climb the mountain in front of my house. I only wanted to explore. That urge has stayed till this day. I ended up going to photography school because of that. I have this unique way of seeing things; there is beauty everywhere, and I can truly admire that. The love that I have for things is going to take me around the world. What a better way to live than to be contemplating the world, I thought. Now I think about it, and I have come to the conclusion that I am living a life for the both of us--for Angel and me. I still have my fears, but I share them with my brother’s urge for adventure. Today, I am willing to fight for his dreams even though I might be afraid of them. To tell the truth, I think I am blessed having to struggle so much for what I want. It means I still have
dreams to fulfill.
Photography school was a great journey by itself. A whole new world opened up to me. I guess I was lucky enough to have the generation I had. My teachers where some of the best photographers in Mexico. They were so unique. Their ability to truly understand the mining of things was amazing. It helped me to understand the meaning of an artist. Those two years of my life where full of passion, insight, and self-comprehension. They trained me to find beauty everywhere. They trained me to know my self before anything else. At the time I was probably eighteen years old. Going to school, then to a reception hall where I was a waiter. After that, I had to rush to the bar where I was a bartender. Finally, it was time to go home. Only for a while though; I was also a sports photographer, and I had to be up at eight o’clock in the morning for the first game on the schedule. That was a common day in my life. I had three different jobs at the time. It was the only way that I could afford going to school, pay my expenses and help a little bit in the house. Sometimes I think about the past, and I put a smile on my face. I love challenges. I would have done even more for what I wanted.
After I finished photography school I found out that my dad’s cousin was a photographer in San Antonio, TX. The funny thing is that I did not know him at the time. After trying to figure out something to say that made sense, I called him. “Well you are a photographer and I am a photographer, maybe we can do something together,” I said. The only thing he said was “Come on over and we’ll figure it out.” After a month, I moved to San Antonio with only an airplane ticket and a backpack. Winfield Little is an extraordinary man. He used to be a pilot for the Marines. Then, he got a bachelors degree in economics. He comes from a business family. I can truly say that he is a man full of knowledge and wisdom. Because of people like Winfield, this country is great. I lived with him for two years. It was like living in a boot camp. Today I see my life before and after meeting Winfield. He taught me a way of life. He taught me principles and gave me wisdom. While I was living with him I was going to school. I got my Associate’s degree in Multimedia Specialist. The whole experience of going to school, going home and then having this amazing man teaching me everything from economics to history--and even how to be a gardener--was so precious for me. I have always been lucky enough to have mentors in the most important stages of my life. It's been two years since I left Winfield’s house, and I miss learning from him. I know it is for the best, because he also showed me that I could do anything I wanted. I have bigger and better dreams today. I have more challenges to overcome.
