If the stories of how photographers first discover photography come in a thousand flavors, Mariano’s flavor is down-home apple pie. Mariano’s first got into photography at 12 when his father gave him a Kodak for his birthday and he began walking the family farm and taking photographs of the things around him: “My dog, the trees in the orchard, the water in the river near near the house.” It gets no quainter.

“The camera seemed to have a little bit of magic to it. It stopped time, and revealed secrets. It was wonderful to see how my world looked so different in pictures. Suddenly, I could see the happiness of the grass blown by the wind in a sunny day or the sadness of an empty chair inside the house. I liked taking pictures. Every picture was a surprise,” he says.