Meet the Mavens - Calvin Acosta

What sunglass.LA style can
you not live without?

I can't live without their colorful frames so the bold bright ones or the cat eye lenses always complete the looks for my editorials! 

What makes you perfectly imperfect?

I think the fact that I always like to try new things to see what works best for me, I'll get caught up trying to keep up with whats trending in photography while trying not to loose my own style in it all. It's always changing but and I know my work will never be "perfect" to me but I strive for satisfaction over perfection!

What is one place you would never
forget your camera?

I would never forget to take my camera to a new area i'm visiting whether that be a vacation destination or just on an excursion, you never know when you're going to stumble across a unique location, and the best way there is to tell if it would look nice in a photoshoot, is to test it out and see how well it photographs!

Best life advice I've ever
received was...?

The best advice I've ever received was to honestly just chase your dreams and to manifest your wants and desires into reality. I've said so many times that if you have a "backup plan" then you have already failed, because you're not doing what you truly want to do, you're just settling. If you want something then take it. I have the privilege of living in a country that allows me to go from being penniless to being the president, so there is no excuse for us to not chase our dreams.

Who or what inspires you?

I am deeply inspired by work from William Ukoh, he's a Nigerian photographer who embodies everything I love about being a black artist, Nowadays in media beauty standards are finally recognizing people of color and I love the way he photographs them in such a high fashion couture way which is not something you see a lot, with people of color and that needs to be recognized.

Favorite quote?

My favorite quote is : “Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow." by Imogen Cunningham I think this quote describes me perfectly because i'm ALWAYS thinking of my next photo and I can't really say that I've taken a photo and it's still my favorite because I'm always evolving!

What is one thing people would be
surprised to know about you?

Something people seem to always be surprised about me is that i'm only 26 and i'm married, and I've been with the same person for nearly 10 years! I'm always told that I seem much more mature for my age. I've always thought of myself as an old soul as well so I can't say that i'm surprised by that lol.