Member Spotlight: Melissa Monsalve

Photographer and CMC member, Melissa Monsalve, starts off our “Member Spotlight” series for the month of May with a short Q&A. Read on to learn more about Melissa, how she got her start in photographer, and her advice for new photographers.

Tell us a little about yourself, and how you got your start in photography.

I was an only child with a parent who gave me the agency to explore anything that interested me. I got my first camera in middle school, a Kodak point and shoot, eventually graduating to my first Canon DSLR in high school. A lot of what first interested me was bringing my camera along on family trips up New England and documenting it from my own perspective. This later evolved into what a lot teen millennials of the era did, which was documenting each other doing teen things. At the time I didn’t realize it, but what photography did was offer a creative outlet to balance out the left brain heavy activities I was immersed in throughout high school and college study. After taking a film class in college, I didn’t touch my cameras for a few years, and just focused on the life changes that came at the time. Eventually, while living in DC for work and wanting to meet new people, I found myself going to photography meet-ups like “Walk With Locals”, and meeting people who also liked exploring the city and documenting it and each other. My camera became my compass in a way it hadn’t before, navigating the new place I was living and new friendships I was building, and I’ve treated that way ever since, trying to look at things and people with fresh eyes. It’s the reason I found myself drawn to CMC when I moved back to NYC. 

Do you specialize in a genre of photography? If so, which genre, and why? If you don’t, please explain why not. 

I don’t specialize in any genre of photography. As someone with multiple interests, perhaps the reason I never have is because I don’t like the feeling of limitation of any one genre title. What I can say is that on the whole I’m drawn to people and the human experience, even the monotonous moments. I find myself aligning more with street photography in that way. 

Do you have any recommendations for photographers who are picking up the camera for the first time?

Just keep shooting. Take your camera with you everywhere because you just never know what will catch your eye. And don’t worry about what others are doing, because your perspective is your own and it won’t be like anyone else’s. I know I’ve struggled with that last part and it’s mentally held me back, so it’s important to keep in mind. 

Share with us a series of 3-5 of favorite photos you’ve taken. Why are these your favorite?

With this last pandemic year, I’ve found myself reminiscing on what our formal “normal” lives looked like. A big part of that for me was spent on the subway. A year and some change later, I’m interested to see how we all look and act differently while doing the routine things we always do. Will we sit or stand as closely? Will we feel comfortable enough again to have an intimate moment in public the way we did? How are observing or policing each other’s behavior in these public spaces? These are things that come up while looking at these photos.