One Good Thing
This week we talked with Photographer and Graphic Designer Marco Sanchez at Documents & Media in Campus Life Services about how he innovated to stay relevant post-pandemic, his favorite images and one tip we can all use to take better photos. Even his favorite cookie jar treat has a photo! Scroll down the bottom to see more photos from Documents & Media, International Women’s Day events and Hot Jobs at UCSF.
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Through Marco's Lens
If you’ve been to large events at UCSF pre-COVID, chances are you’ve already seen Marco Sanchez in action. A photographer and graphic designer for Documents & Media, Marco has been at UCSF for 17 years. Photography used to be about 90% of his daily work, but the COVID pandemic brought requests to a screeching halt last March. We checked in to learn more about his photography journey, his favorite images and his other life passion: his insatiable chocolate sweet tooth.
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Tell us about your journey to photography.
I’ve been interested in photography since I was 10 years old. I would shoot as many photos as I could on my parents’ camera. They saw I had talent, so they got me my own camera when I was 15 or 16 years old. A year or two later, I started showing my photos to other people and I loved their reaction to my work. The positive feedback fed my creativity, and I was hooked. I was shy so everything at the beginning was New York cityscapes and nature shots. As I grew older and felt more comfortable communicating, I engaged more people. I slowly began to prefer people photography. Now, I say that I am a people photographer. It brings me joy.
I was reluctant to do photography as a 9-5 job. I was afraid it would become too tedious, and I’d lose the fun and passion. I started at UCSF 17 years ago as a graphic designer, primarily photography for the last 12 years. When it became my full-time job, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s been rewarding. I haven’t lost the passion, mainly because I’m part of a community here at UCSF.
What’s different post-pandemic?
I miss events, big gatherings, block parties, Chancellor’s events with staff and students. So many things that happen at UCSF involve the community. Last summer, when some of the UCSF community started to gradually come back, I began to take more individual photos. No events or group shots, just portraits—mostly outside.
Pre-COVID, photography was 80-90% of my work, then the requests went to zero. After COVID-19 I had to rely on my graphic design skills and pick up new skills to stay relevant, like creating Zoom Backgrounds and animated email footers. I made some of the UCSF branded Zoom backgrounds that CLS offers. It pushed me to innovate my photography process as well. During graduation, residents still wanted group shots. So I took photos of each person individually and digitally placed them in a seamless group shot.
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What makes a “good” photo?
I prefer a photo that captures emotion—joy, happiness, amazement, dancing. It’s not always happy, pretty pictures. It’s the expression that moves you in one extreme or the other. A good photo brings out the emotion and expression of the moments around us.
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Marco's Favorite Cookie Jar Treat:
"Anyone who knows me knows I am a chocolate addict! I’ll try anything."
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We’ve never featured a favorite cookie jar treat photo before, but when Marco talked about the Chocolate Club he started in Documents & Media and the wall of chocolate wrappers from his collection of more than 500, we had to see it (below).
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Best of Documents & Media Photography
Take one minute to see a compilation of the types of photos Marco and his peers capture. If you are overdue for a photo for your UCSF profile or to learn more, see: http://tiny.ucsf.edu/photo.
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HOT JOBS at UCSF
Even with the systemwide hiring freeze, some critical positions still need to be filled. Do you know anyone who might be a good fit? Let them know about the listing!
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About One Good Thing
You like good news and we want to share more of what’s good with our FAS community. One Good Thing is the “cookie jar” of emails: open it up for a quick, sweet break in your week!
See the last One Good Thing Best Friends at Work, Post-pandemic and the One Good Thing web for all stories.
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