Digital Image Cafe Photographer Profile
Viveca Venegas - Puerto Rico

Though Viveca Venegas has had a camera in hand since the age of 13, she didn't become seriously interested in digital photography until 2003 when her son left to serve in the Iraq war. "My faith in God and my camera saved me from constant pain. I started to look at nature with hopes and dreams that I would show my son Ivanjo my photos when he came back," she says.

A passionate and enthusiastic traveler, Viveca mixes photography with humanitarian travel. She went to India in 1996 to meet a friend that had been her pen pal for 33 years. During that visit, she also met Mother Teresa and worked and prayed by her side. She fell in love with the country and has now visited 11 times. Her adopted spiritual family of 20 people benefits from the compassion and generosity of her family and close friends. "I don't think I will ever run out of places or people to shoot in that country. India has become my second home," says Viveca. "I have a fascination for India and its people, the food, the culture and different faiths and traditions," she adds.

Traveling to distance places like Nepal, Namibia, Tibet, Peru, looking for exotic, primitive tribal people, has taught Viveca much about herself and human nature. Through her photography, she hopes to be able to open eyes and hearts to what she discovers. "I have learned to respect, consider, and even care for almost everyone in spite of color, faith, culture, education or cast. My camera has helped me make lots of friends, which include rich, poor, handicapped, leprous people, eunuchs, and “untouchables," Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhist and Christians alike. They all love to be photographed, and I have enjoyed in a most amazing way my time with all of them," Viveca recounts. Her technique is to show nature and people "at their best…just the way they are." She tries to picture not only the physical manifestation of what she is photographing, but the spirit and soul, as well.

Using her Nikon D200, Viveca's first love is landscape photography, and Russ Burden - and Wolfgang Dolak have been her two main teachers. When it comes to photographing people, she has followed the career of Steve McCurry and had the honor of traveling with him to Tibet two years ago. The challenge for Viveca is to capture individuals that no one dares to approach.

Born in the city of Ponce in the south of Puerto Rico, Viveca moved to San Juan in 1983. She had a very happy childhood, surrounded by a loving a supportive family. She was an art major in college, and has always loved music and horses. She has sung professionally and performs at friends gatherings or for her own enjoyment. She once took care of 13 horses, organized a children's summer camp, and gave riding lessons. Today, she owns one horse, a pure bred Paso Fino stallion called 'Raju Gitano' (Gypsy King). She says that he is her best therapy.

Viveca is also the proud mother of four children. Her daughter, Cindy Kim, 31,is an Opera singer by profession and works as a sales manager at a hotel. Her son Ivanjo, 29, is a Captain of Artillery in the US Army and studying to be a psychiatrist. Her son Millo, 26, is an artist and graphic designer, singer and composer, who works at IDEAS(a branch of MGM Studios). Her son Wallace, 25, works at the family company in Puerto Rico. Viveca also has one grandson, Forrest, age 2, who is the son of her daughter.

Since March of 2003, Viveca has been a member of the Cafe. Her first POTM was of her son the week before he left for Iraq. She has been an active participant and particularly likes judging. She has many friends that are members, and has been lucky to meet Terry Cervi and Claudia Kuhn. She also admires Quentin Robinson, Bob Jones, Jean Crombie, Beth Meriner, Susi Lawson, Warren Ishii and many others.

Viveca will be in India again soon, and is also planning a photo trip to the Western United States. "I will travel far and wide, taking exhausting trips to find the Center Of Humanity. I admire how many survive the misery, hunger and inhumane living conditions in some places of the world. I truly believe that peace will come when we understand that we are all in some spiritual and mysterious way part of one another, and if you hurt another you hurt yourself," says Viveca.