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!

Hi, Adolescent! We want to introduce you to our newest Member Crush, Victor Cornejo. This 19-year-old Gen Z creator was born and raised in Mexico; now based in Chicago, Victor is represented by Adolescent as a photographer. Most of his work is based on personal experience, as he believes you cannot create something authentic without the authentic experience. This week, we talked to Victor about food photography, intentionally not defining himself as a filmmaker, and how tied he feels to the different locations in which he’s lived.

Adolescent Content: You mention on your site being tied to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Guadalajara. Do you find that your work changes or shifts at all when you’re in different locations?

Victor Cornejo: I’m strongly tied to those places, indeed—most of my friends are spread in all these cities, and sometimes I visit them, but I’m rarely bouncing back and forth between them as I please.

Adolescent: I found it really interesting that you call yourself a creator but not a filmmaker, despite frequently directing video content. What’s your reasoning behind not calling yourself the latter?

Victor: I don’t call myself a filmmaker since I’ve never done a piece I consider a “film.” I’m a cognitive science major but I like creating stuff on the side, just for fun; however, I am taking a break to focus on my research.

Adolescent: I love your food photography—I always find stills like that super intriguing and beautiful. What drew you to that type of photo work?

Victor: Food photography is actually my least favorite kind of work. I mean, I would like to shoot “bodegones,” but I haven’t had enough time to do something like that, haha. On the other hand, I enjoy shooting life—just things that tend to happen in the moment when I have a camera. I just like to picture life since, as Buñuel said, memory is all we have.

Adolescent: Is there an ultimate goal behind all of your work?

Victor: I’d like to find a way to mix science and art in my own way—to be able to add my touch to the experience of seeing something for the first time, you know, the emotions involved in different experiences. I would like to capture them and share them.