Jackie Valdez‘s photographs feature the faces of the Rio Grande Valley.

There are teenage girls wearing cowboy hats enjoying the sights and sounds of the Rio Grande Livestock Show in Mercedes. High school bands marching down streets in parades and across football fields make up another colorful portion of her South Texas portfolio. Freshly graduated students in portraits look hopeful and happy in Valdez’s portrait work as they look off into their futures.

Beyond the quality of each one of her photos, Valdez’s work has another common denominator running across her photography. Nearly everything she does is shot outside. Angles and skies are key creative elements Valdez explores in her photographs. Natural light, the open and always changing variations of South Texas skies are the visual backdrops of many of her photos. 

“Have camera, will travel” may be a sort of unofficial motto fueling Valdez’s work and her ambitions. 

“My goal is to be a travel photographer,” said Valdez, who is based in Mercedes. “I want people to call me from different parts of the country to do work for them.”

The Great Outdoors

The X-ray technician-turned-photographer in her own words had “no training, no classes” when embarking on making her longtime hobby a full-time job.

Valdez did have some natural talents and a great eye to frame and visualize images in utilizing outdoor backgrounds to enhance her photography. Those traits are on display in one photo where a teenage girl in western wear at the livestock show is kissing her cow at night with a Ferris wheel turning behind her. Another photo features a young man sitting on a park bench in Brownsville with the city’s historic Market Square serving as a sweeping background.

Valdez is open to the possibility of establishing a storefront studio in the downtown area of Mercedes from which she can reach both ends of the Valley from a regional midpoint. Her overarching goal, however, is to work outdoors in the creative spaces of sky and natural light, honing in on faces that tell stories.

“My goal is to reach people outdoors,” Valdez said.

Gratitude & Faith

One key mentor in her photographic pursuits is Rick Davila, a professional photographer in Dallas.

An admirer of Davila’s work, Valdez signed up for one of his workshops, thinking she would have no chance of getting a spot in one of his highly sought after sessions. When Davila learned that Valdez was willing to drive nine hours for a two hour workshop in Dallas, he not only slotted her in but did so at no charge for the aspiring photographer. 

Since then, Davila has encouraged Valdez’s work and her progression and improvement in the field. Photo shoots in the Valley make up the majority of her work, but she has traveled to San Antonio and San Marcos for clients seeking her artistic talents with a camera. Valdez has been recognized at the local level with an award from the Mercedes Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to the arts.

Valdez relishes the flexibility of time that being a photographer gives her. She can set her own schedule in making sure to attend important events relating to her children’s school activities. Valdez expressed gratitude for being engaged in work she loves doing and cites her faith and family as inspirations. 

“I’m going to keep getting my name out there,” she said.