December 21, 2022
Jimmy Mejia: Making a splash
STORY BY Delanie alexander / edited by olivia mckeon
Jimmy Mejia ('24) is a photographer/artist based in New York. His art is his way of self-expression, and he enjoys it because it allows him to connect with people. If he's not taking pictures, he spends a lot of his time producing the show "Homeschool'd" for ICTV. Jimmy likes to spend his free time with his guitar, skating, or being the free spirit that he is, doing something spontaneous.
Delanie Alexander spoke with Jimmy Mejia in November to discuss his passion for photography and art, and to find out what inspires his special way of telling a story.
DA: Tell me a bit about yourself. What’s your major, your background, your hobbies?
JM: So, I am a film photography visual arts major. I’m a junior. Who am I? Damn, that's a broad question. I feel like I'm like this ball of energy who just likes to try different things. I have a lot of different hobbies. I play guitar. I play the piano. I skateboard when it's not raining. I like to consider photography a hobby, but it's also kind of like my job. I consider it a hobby because I have so much fun with it; but it's also my job, my form of payment. It's my career.
But I play video games as well. Soccer used to be my sport until I came to college. I kind of fell off with it, unfortunately, but I still watch soccer all the time. Real Madrid's my favorite club. One of my old hobbies used to be this toy called the kendama. It's this Japanese skill toy, something I used to play with all the time. But yeah, it used to be one of my old hobbies and it's a lot of the reason why I started photography.
DA: Really? How so?
JM: One of my teachers in high school was trying to start this club, and I thought it was about music. So, I was like, yes, let me join and then it ended up being about this toy. And he's like, “Search it up. Do some research.” And I did. And I was like, “They're doing some cool tricks with this thing.” So, we had a club in high school called the kendama club. And we would play once every week, and try to get better at doing all the tricks. It's something you could do anytime, really, inside whenever you want. It was something for me and my friends to do. And I started doing it so much. I started to make videos and edit videos on my phone up until the point where I was like, “I need a camera. I want to make actual videos because there's professionals that play with this toy. And they record what they have, like legitimate videos that are edited.”
One of my influences is Cooper Eddy, who was a videographer for one of the companies called Sweets Kendamas. I’m very influenced by him, and then I bought my first camera in summer 2019, right before my senior year of high school.
Well yeah, that's who I am. Sometimes I'm very chill, relaxed, quiet, but it just depends, you know, I am who I am. Jimmy is Jimmy, and that's the best way to describe it.
DA: I like that. That's cool. So, I was wondering why photography? What made you choose this path in your life?
JM: I think it's just because there are so many new things I get to learn every day, and there's so much just to learn. People say photography is dead. But there are still people that need photographers all the time. And I'm the guy who's always like, “If someone needs me, I'll be there, and I'll take photos.” I love taking photos. I love capturing the moment. I love being able to look at my photo and smile and be like, “Wow I took this.” I think that's what keeps me going with photography. There's always something new I find, something new I can explore.
DA: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
JM: Is it too broad to say life, everything? Everything inspires me. It's music; it's the people here at IC; it's my friends; it's people I don't even know who I see doing work. I think people who create their own different things, they're so cool. Have you ever heard of Ithaca Baked Beanies? It’s a group of people on this campus that just makes beanies. They sell them and people love it, and I see people wearing them all the time. It's cool, the people that just do their own thing. I think that's what inspires me.
Tyler, the Creator’s up there for me and so is Frank Ocean. Those two are just like role models in terms of what I want to do with my life. Tyler does everything, and I want to do everything, including music. I’m making my own music for class, and even then I'm still having so much fun. I play guitar and piano, and I want to get better at that. I just don't have the time to be consistent with it yet, but I want to sell clothes. The possibilities are endless with what I can do.
DA: Do you have any idols or role models that influenced you or your art style?
JM: I think a lot of people inspired me to do it. I don't know if there are any artists in particular. I would say there's this one artist in New York City who goes by the name of Jacob Consenstein. He’s a lot of what I've kind of aspired to be. He does a lot of the stuff that I like to do or what I like to see. He does graffiti, which is something one of my friends does, and I always tag along with him. He goes by the name of Z. That's my boy. But he does a lot of like fashion stuff. That candid photography kind of stuff; I like that.
But yeah, Jacob Consenstein definitely and Gunner Stahl. Gunner Stahl always photographs rappers and all of these popular musicians, and he does it all on film. He's such a talented young kid. He's only in his 20s too, which is crazy. That just inspires me to feel like even though I'm still 20 I know that I could do all of these great things at such a young age. I just have to push myself to be better. He photographs people that everyone knows like Playboi Carti. He made the album cover for his first album. And Atiba Jefferson does skateboarding photography. Those three are like my go-to people.
DA: When you capture a moment with your camera, do you want to tell a story or make a story?
JM: I think it's more of telling a story because a lot of my photos are candid. I think it all depends on what I'm photographing. If it's just people, oftentimes I'll be doing candid photos. So, it's more about telling a story and telling what's happening. That’s how simple it is.
There's a photo with my brothers and my friends. They're like, “Yo, let's take a picture.” And we just took it real quick, and that was telling a story. But, if I'm making a specific type of art, like abstract photos, that's more of making a story—creating what I've seen in my mind. I haven't dropped a lot of projects recently because I've been holding them until the end of the year. But a lot of the stuff that I've been doing is more about making my vision come alive, but it all depends on what I'm photographing.
DA: What's the process behind taking pictures for you? What are your personal thoughts and your intentions?
JM: First, I always try to set a good kind of energy. I always try to bring the energy in. Sometimes I'm a little shy, and I think that's why I want to always bring good energy because I am usually quiet. But when I'm in a photo scene or doing what I love to do, I let myself bring the energy whether it's through music or just me doing something. People say I'm a walking video because I always be singing some song or something. But yeah, always setting a good vibe.
Yeah, I always want to try to capture what I see as best in the moment. Sometimes I'll try to come in with a plan of the lighting situation. What's the weather like? And depending on that, I will determine what equipment I need. But sometimes, I just kind of go out to shoot photoshoots, and I'm like, “Alright, I have no idea what I'm doing, but let's just create something.” And something magical usually happens, which has been pretty fun.
It's not always good to do that. Usually, if I have time to plan ahead, I will plan ahead because it's smarter because lighting is one of the most important parts of photography. So, you have to know what you're doing beforehand. You always have to prepare beforehand. But I'm always okay if I end up showing up to a photo shoot, not knowing what I'm doing because sometimes that's when you create the best work. It's all about being able to try new things and try your ideas, whatever comes to mind. It's like you have a goal, but you're not confined. You should never be confined.
DA: What's the difference between having a planned shoot and just taking a picture randomly. How do you determine whether or not something is beautiful or good enough to shoot? Do you feel like you can make anything beautiful just by taking its picture?
JM: I think it's all based on a feeling. You kind of just know when you have a photo or when you can do better. Can you make something out of something people don't see as beautiful? You definitely can, in some sort of way. It just depends on what you're photographing. I think you could definitely make anything look beautiful if you wanted to, but sometimes you just have to know when a photo isn't good. And you have to move on; don't get stuck with one idea. Always go with something that you know is somewhat good, and then you can push yourself to be better.
DA: What's the story behind splashhtapess [your username on Instagram]?
JM: I love this question. Okay, so splashhtapess is not what I wanted to go by. On Instagram somebody out there in this world has the name splash, and it pisses me off because that's my name. The whole story is so cheesy like it all started from watching this YouTuber by the name of Chris Smoove. He plays NBA 2k a lot. So, I'm not someone who pays 2k a lot, which is funny as hell. But I used to watch it all the time. Every time you made a three in the game, you would have this sound effect that would go “splashh.”
So, in seventh grade, I was playing basketball all the time with my homies. I would always call myself splash master when I wasn't really that good at basketball at all, but I used to always call myself that, and I'd always be like, “Yo, you gotta call me splash master.” And then I think eventually, as I grew up I started calling myself splash. It's like my artist name. Being able to make another name for myself is pretty cool. Splash means a lot to me. There's this song called “Waves” by Joey Bada$$ which is another idol of mine. And “Waves” is about him at 17 trying to make a career for himself, trying to make a wave. I think that has a lot to do with splashes, about having an effect on people, whatever that may be. People always tell me that they love when I'm around because of my energy and who I am, and something about making a splash makes me feel good. It's just my artist name, but it's also who I am.
