This is a weekly series where we feature our incredibly talented Adolescent members and their work! Sign up here to join the Adolescent Membership and be part of the @ family!

Hey, Adolescent! This week, we want to introduce you to 24-year-old Mont Carver—a gifted Mexican photographer and our newest Member Crush. Mont’s work is as diverse as it is profound, ranging from stunningly blunt shots of her mother to moody self-portraits masked by double exposure. Read below to find out more about Mont’s experiences with art school, depression, and growing up in Mexico City.

Adolescent Content: How does being located in Mexico City influence your work?

Mont Carver: I’ve been living in Mexico City all my life. It’s a chaotic place, but it’s magical when you try to look at things in a different way. I always find new places to visit, because it’s an enormous city. It has everything, and some artists describe it as surreal… I [both love and hate] living here, but I think I have a lot of opportunities to grow and have an open mind because the education here is like that.

Adolescent: You’re a photographer, writer, and artist. How do you juggle all of these different mediums?

Mont: When I was a little girl, my father used to photograph everything about our family...in an artistic way. He used to lie on the floor just to have a perfect shot of us. I think I was so moved by that memory that when I grew up, all I wanted was to record every moment of my life like he had. He taught me that. And the writing part has saved my life. I don’t like to be labeled as just a photographer or just a writer. Every now and then I find a new way to express myself. I graduated from SAE Institute University here in Mexico City—I studied cinematography and I learned different ways to say what I wanted to say. I [took classes on] acting, writing, photography, directing, sound recording, production—everything.

Adolescent: Where do you find inspiration?

Mont: Mostly in sadness. But I find inspiration in my family too. Also, when I travel and experiment with different things; when I’m procrastinating; when I’m in the woods; when I’m alone.

Adolescent: You posted a piece on your blog about the importance of self-love. Has your journey of self-acceptance at all been shaped by your work in photography?

Mont: Self-love has been hard [for me]. I suffered from depression when I was 16 years old, so my parents took me to a psychiatrist and I [began taking medication]. But I felt so lost [and lacking in purpose]. I let toxic people into my life and felt vulnerable almost all the time. [Eventually, though,] I started feeling better thanks to my family and my best friend… They were there to remind me that I was enough. At that time, I started to look for experiences that would force me to leave my comfort zone. I traveled with my sister to Canada for three months, which was awesome—I had never been by myself in a different country or spoken a different language. I walked alone, made new friends from around the world, took photographs, wrote poems, went to parties, kissed people, laughed, cried, and began to feel like myself. I began to know who I was and what I was missing. I then started taking self-portraits [so I could better recognize] my face and my body. 

Adolescent: I love your travel videos! Do you always document your trips? Why?

Mont: I’ve always documented my trips because [of my father]—it was a beautiful thing to come back home and watch what we’d experienced together. He gave me a camera, and I started recording everything. My high school friends always loved that about me! Traveling is such a special thing to me because it makes me grow as a person and expand my views on religion, sexuality, politics, culture, food, and people.