Mobile Photography Intimate Interview with Maria Moscoso in Miami, United States

To leave the island in which I grew up if you can call that an ambition. Ever since I can remember I had a sense of not belonging which I thought would be relieved by leaving the narrow confines of my culture. I had been promised that I would be sent abroad for university and specially during high school years I counted the days. 

For my parents, intellectual achievement was a prerequisite for approval and love. Since grade school I received recognition for my work getting the best grades and prizes at the end of every school year. During high school years I played volleyball in the school team and was recognized as ‘best player’. 

During summers at a drugstore. 

Private.

My dream came true and I was sent to York for my university studies. After two years I spent a memorable one in Spain and in my last year one semester before graduation I dropped my studies and a new phase of my life started.  My work experience has been very diverse and eclectic. I worked my own small organic farm, photographed nude pregnant women, was the manager of the marketing department for a chain of drugstores etc.  In my early forties I completed my undergraduate studies and a masters degree in Psychology, studied Archetypal astrology for four years on line from a school in England and used it as a tool in my counseling practice. 

I lived in London for a year where I  took my first photography class. The teacher told me I had an eye. Later in New York I was told the same by teachers but they were not really mentors. In my twenties I worked in a photo lab where the owner was very encouraging and made a bnw poster of one of my photos of a modern dancer in a pose in the air. I still remember the thrill.  

I would say very fit. I swim at least five times a week and combine it with a simple yoga routine that I have developed. If I can’t swim I walk but the water is my element. Exercise is very important for my emotional well being. I just need it to feel good.

To answer properly to that question I would need to write a lot which I don’t like. I did all the writing I was going to do to complete my studies. So briefly I think both. I would also need to define success which for me doesn’t necessarily translate into fame or money.

I’m informed, very aware of what that game is all about  and I vote but I don’t like politics. 

Cant think of anything. For the past five years since moving to Miami where I now live (but didn’t come to retire) we (my husband and I ) have been giving away much of the ‘stuff’ we tend to accumulate which we think defines our identity, like books, music, cooking utensils, etc.  We now live a more minimal, simple life which I have come to love.

One of the things I love is eating well so I cook a lot and don’t skimp in getting the best quality. Recently I bought the new IPhone and decided to sell my big camera with all my lenses so that I wouldn’t feel too guilty as I had not been using it for quite a while. I had been selling my images mainly for decoration in hotels, offices,homes, etc which could be printed in very large sizes, something I cannot do with the iPhone. But since discovering mobile photography four years ago there’s no turning back for me. 

Anywhere in nature and specially the ocean. Also my home is very important.  I have become addicted to been outside during the magic hours specially near the ocean to which I am fortunate to live near by. I have discovered places in which sometimes I am blessed to be totally alone with my dog transforming any negative or sad mood I could have. 

To keep learning in my areas of interest like psychology, personal development, art, photography etc. I read a lot and listen to podcasts and love to discover interesting thinkers. This is a passion that I share with my partner.  One of my recent ones is Alain de Botton which I mention it because I’m sure you know about him as he is the founder of the School of Life in London. His philosophy about love and partnership resonates and validates my thinking. It’s funny because I get these infatuations with new discoveries and start to listen and read everything he has to say, staying late at night and then I can’t sleep, but I get so much energy from the whole process. Also to keep creating in the medium which I have chosen which is now photography and has been since my twenties. 

Definitely love. I have a son and a daughter and three grandchildren which I want and hope  to see become adults.

Being able to free myself from the first relationship of fifteen years. It was one of the most difficult but life changing periods of my life. Seeing my two children grow and become persons with good hearts is the biggest blessing. 

Anything that irritates me considerably in others behaviors is signaling towards a shadow aspect of myself; in some manner it’s in me  and I don’t want to see it so I project it outside. This is one of the most fascinating topics which they don’t teach when you study psychology. 

For me life is a journey towards wholeness, overcoming difficulties and challenges. She would think there is light and so much growth at the end of the tunnel and would feel very happy. 

Can’t think of anything and I have lost quite a few.  

I think Greed encompasses all of them. 

I like to speculate about it but don’t particularly believe in any idea. I think I’m more afraid of the idea of eternal life than of death. The mystery of life just keeps expanding the more I look for answers. 

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