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bio

my art

 

I enjoy capturing moments that seem every day, tend to go unnoticed. A sunrise, sunset, a runner on the street, people at a party or a street artist. Just to portray the moment and try to convey what that moment meant is for me the magic of photography.

 

exhibitions

 

I have already participated in a couple of exhibitions in South Florida and some of my photographs have appeared in magazines and printed and digital newspapers, they have also circulated on the social networks of many others who have been responsible for disseminating them in several cities outside of the United States.

At present, I still do not have my own physical gallery, I have to invest more capital to be able to achieve it. For now, my portfolio of images is available on the web and social networks. There is a lot of material that I have done for others, clients and friends, but I am working on organizing my personal artistic work to upload it to the web. You can find me on the internet as www.edwarsimal.com and as @edwarsimal on social networks.

financial challenges as an artist

Effectively, artistic work demands capital investment that initially is not remunerated with income. You must take into account the establishment of priorities to allocate the resources you have in what you really are going to work. Buying a set of lighting lamps does not make sense if your inclination is the landscape photo. Maybe the monopod is more important than the tripod if you're doing sports photos. So, if you are starting as a hobby or not, you must set priorities, so you will not waste the money and you can point to the things you really need. Not for buying a Formula 1 vehicle this afternoon, tomorrow you will be a professional in that sport. Go step by step and evolve with what you do, little by little the money will appear as you progress. You may not have the money at the beginning but start without fears. I always remember a quote from Robert Plant, singer of Led Zeppelin: " You can't give up something you really believe in for financial reasons". The most important thing is to focus and work with passion on what you want, everything will fit if you know how to prioritize things.

Edwar Simal Chang

 

my story

I studied in Economic Sciences in Venezuela:

Degree Organization and Systems, University Institute of Marketing - ISUM.

Degree Personal Administrator, University Institute of Marketing - ISUM.

Degree Business Administrator, University Simón Rodríguez - UNESR.

I was born in 1972 in Caracas, Venezuela. Since the mid-'70s, I have memories that my father was a lover of photography and despite not being a professional in the area, he was torn between being a banking executive and amateur photographer. He had his own cameras and even his little darkroom. I was growing, but not developing that passion for photography, after all it was just a hobby that my dad enjoyed making family photos.

Years later, while I was studying administration at the university, I documented family reunions or some other trip, but I must confess that taking a photograph and waiting several days to find out how it was done did not attract much attention for me. At that time, work was still going on with film reveal and I did not have the resources to buy the new digital cameras that had appeared in the market. Already graduated from university, and as a professional inserted in the labor market, I began to feel a special charm to document the events in my work, family meetings, with friends and of course the spark that activated the flame of the photographic passion: pleasure trips. I made this step in the world of the digital era.

 

I started with a couple of compact cameras with Sony and Panasonic. After knowing its virtues in several trips, I realized that I needed something a little more advanced and I migrated to DSLR with Sony, where I stayed for a while experimenting with good photos and also making mistakes while learning. For 2010, my wife (in that year she was my girlfriend), convinced me to take formal photography classes and I enrolled in a course for beginners dictated by the Venezuelan Master of Photography Wilson Prada in the city of Maracay, Venezuela. Unfortunately, the pressing activities of my professional work for a corporation and my own nascent businesses did not allow me to spend more than a week in classes, so I took on the task of learning photography in my free time at night as autodidact, using the internet and magazines specialized in that matter. Having the natural ability to compose a scene, I have dedicated myself to know the techniques and equipment, tools with which composition and inspiration could highlight a moment that is embodied in the image.

Since 2015, I live in Miami Beach, USA and use Canon DSLR. Every day I try to learn something new, reading, snooping, observing and admiring the work of others in photography.

 

What is the type of photography that I like? Difficult to say ... I enjoy photography in general, a face, the street, a landscape, sports, the corporate business photo, lifestyle and fashion, food and children, all have their artistic touch when you dedicate yourself, it doesn’t matter if is black and white or full color. However, I enjoy photographing landscapes and cities, I love spending time portraying moments where people are not waiting to smile for the photo, as in the street or in nature, those are the ones that I love the most.

 

The best photo? I think I have not taken it yet, it keeps me in constant search for a better catch every time I look through the lens.

 

Today I want to share with you how I see life through my lens.

Edwar Simal

Edwar Simal

The names

Many people ask me for my names, because the first one seems like a combination between Ed-War (the War of Ed), and the other one seems to be a surname.

 

This is simple to explain. Years ago, when computers did not exist, public records were made by hand or typewriter and typographical errors were made that were then very complicated to correct, and if you tried to present a child in a Spanish-speaking country with an Anglo-Saxon name further aggravated the situation, such as Edward, without the "d" at the end, to write as Edwar.

To complete the story, my dad used to sign in his youth with the combination of his two names, and from there Simón Alberto joined in my middle name, Simal.

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