Meet Daniel Miramontes, filmmaker and multimedia visual creator, and one of the 762 artists featured in the exhibition, The de Young Open. Miramontes is a San Francisco State University graduate and, as he describes himself, “a first-generation Mexican-American and 200,000th-generation human being.” Miramontes’s work centers around themes of oneness, connection, and an exploration of existential ideas, using visual media as a global tool of communication with a shared dialogue.
Two of Miramontes’s works were featured in The de Young Open: a photograph of a dancer in a moment of hope while coping with the impacts of COVID-19 on his career and his beloved Italy, and a visually intriguing video performance of repetition and sequence. When asked why he decided to submit pieces to the exhibition, Miramontes simply and directly recalls seeing the word “community” in the exhibition call and felt compelled by it as his work responds directly to the theme. During my research for our interview, I discovered that what makes his work captivating is that it is an honest reflection of the artist’s own curiosity about human psychology and a focused vision of building empathy and awareness in each project he creates.
Maria Egoavil: Can you share with us how and when you became interested in working with visual media?
Daniel Miramontes: It started back in middle school; illustration and drawing came very naturally to me. But it was one teacher in particular who noticed a great potential in me and pushed this idea that this was something I was good at. I remember receiving an award for photography in front of the entire school— which for a little kid, that’s huge—and with my teacher’s constant encouragement, gave me the confidence to keep going.
ME: How did you find yourself transitioning from photography to film?
DM: In 2015, with the rise of social media I didn’t like how photography was being consumed and the way it was portrayed. At that time, the photography scene in San Francisco was run by a very homogeneous group—white, straight, male—and the photographs being produced were borderline exploitative, taking the humanity out of people, such as the homeless, and converting them into an object for their composition. In addition, the fast engagement and consumption of media did not allow for real understanding and exploration, and those things all together made me stop doing photography for a year. It wasn’t until a friend suggested I try doing film that I started to take some classes.
ME: Did film give you the flexibility and space for storytelling that perhaps you found lacking in photography?
DM: Partially, yes, film allows you to make a longer project and gives the space for people to sit with you. And there is also the aspect of narrative; as soon as you pair two images together you create a storyline, which you can also create in photography, although, the way we are consuming these things today I am no longer sure that works.
ME: With the high consumption of and demand for visual media, how have you seen the landscape of digital content shift in the last eleven months during the pandemic?
DM: There has definitely been an increase in video demand and consumption during this time. I think in a way, media can work to hijack your psychology. We know that videos, ads, fight to hold your attention, and I think it’s come to a point where people are desensitized to it because they are saturated and overly stimulated with so much.
