My name is Graciela. But I prefer Chela.
I'm an event and portrait photographer, living in Minnesota. Like many of us seeking a better life here in the United States, my parents brought me here when I was almost two. Growing up in Minnesota I often felt like I was not from here nor there. "Ni de aqui, ni de alla," is a popular Mexican phrase that encompasses what that feels like. I straddle the threshold between two worlds. Always in between them yet not fully immersed in either. This has allowed me to view the world in a unique lens.
Apapachar: to hug with your whole soul
Apapachar is a word I grew up hearing and experiencing. It is hard to describe. To Apapachar means to hug with your whole soul. It is a hug that a mother experiences the first time she holds her newborn child. It is an unforgettable feeling. This is what I strive to capture for you, a soul hug encapsulated in a frozen moment in time.
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” — Aaron Siskind
