I grew up in South Central Los Angeles — raised by the streets, shaped by skate culture, and grounded in rhythm before I ever touched a camera. For 15 years, I skateboarded through alleyways and boulevards, chasing freedom one trick at a time. Along the way, I caught the eyes of brands like Nike and Grizzly Griptape, who supported me with gear — but the real gift was what skateboarding taught me: how to see the world differently.

I didn’t know it yet, but I was already learning to frame life — not just ride through it.

In 2019, everything changed. Life crisis hit. The pandemic shifted everything. And skateboarding, once my outlet, began to drift away. That same year, I picked up my first-ever iPhone — the 7 Plus. With it, I started capturing moments around Los Angeles. What began as random shots became an obsession with light, shadow, stillness. I was unknowingly falling in love with photography.

Then I met Nina Paskowitz — a hairstylist in the film industry who became my mentor. She saw something in me, always reminding me I had an eye. Her late husband, Dave Ferrara, believed it too. So much so, he gave me my first DSLR. That moment changed everything. It wasn’t just a camera — it was belief. It was a torch passed.

Dave is gone now. But I carry this journey in his honor. This craft is my way of holding on — not just to his memory, but to every untold story I now have the eyes to tell.

Being Black, being from South Central, and being shown love by two people outside my world — it gave me more than hope. It gave me a reason. Photography is my way of breathing life into moments that get missed. Proving that beauty exists, even where no one’s looking.

This isn’t just a passion.
It’s how I turn survival into art — how I make a world full of unknown… make sense.

ninocinematics@gmail.com