Whether she’s found an extreme close-up that abstracts a blue agave leaf hit by a faint ray of light or shoots models from angles that make them seem ten feet tall, Mexico City–based photographer Victoria Barmak loves to explore new ways of seeing in her work. During her communications studies at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Barmak picked up photography as a hobby, which she explored through an independent course in Iceland over summer vacation. “I got more excited about photography than ever before and began posting my images on Instagram,“ she recalls. “Then, Thursday’s Child Global noticed my work and contacted me to be in its [artist roster.] Only a couple of hours later, I got an email asking if I was available to do a Nike shoot in Mexico City.” This shoot proved to Barmak that she could do photography for a living; from there, she studied at a four-week fashion photography course at the New York Film Academy under photographer Kristina Varaksina, someone Barmak credits as an impactful mentor. The surprising perspectives each project brings continue to astonish Barmak about photography. “It’s about going every day to a new shoot, a new story, a new face,” she explains. “This job is something that will never bore me.” Barmak also draws inspiration from the LGBTQ+ community to which she belongs. “I want to make an impact on how people’s stories are portrayed, where identity and gender can exist unbound from the constraints of society,” she says. “I’m always trying to find different faces and stories to portray.”