Gente of NAHJ: Conference photographer captures slice of Hollywood
Cesar Loza is not used to photographing journalists. They’re less smiley and more uptight than his usual crowd of subjects: stoners.
Although used to covering cannabis events, Loza has been photographing the National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference this week. At every luncheon and ceremony, the 34 year old has been a fly on the wall, immortalizing moments and interactions.
One minute he’s crouching in front of the left side of the stage for close-ups of a speaker. The next he’s in the back of the room trying to get an environmental shot. In between assignments, he’ll set down a half-full cup of coffee so he can click away.
His favorite moments to capture this week have been those of people in awe of being in Los Angeles and in Hollywood for the first time.
“I’ve been here all my life and sometimes we lose sight of the fact that we live in the entertainment capital of the world,” Loza said.
Aside from the black L.A. cap he’s been sporting everyday, Loza wears many hats when it comes to camera work: he is a photography director and videographer, and shoots music and documentary-style videos.
He began his career with an unpaid gig as a music engineer, working on audio editing for music videos. Interacting with the different artists who would stop by the studio, Loza gained the people skills that help him to this day. But that work was not as fulfilling as what he does now.
“I feel like I found my happy place,” Loza said. “I get paid to walk around with a camera and literally stop time real quick.”
After a 12-hour shift, he sifts through 1,500 to 1,700 photos, and narrows it down to 200 he’ll edit and turn in.
“I’m going to go home and hopefully get some rest,” Loza said. “And yeah, smoke some weed.”
Briana Mendez-Padilla is a bilingual journalist based in Long Beach, California, who is passionate about covering education and her community. She is a recent graduate from Cal State Long Beach where she managed ENYE (Formerly known as DÍG En Español), a bilingual magazine working to uplift stories on and for the Latine community. Reach her at brianampadilla1214 [at] gmail[dot] com or on X at @brianampadilla.
