Changing the narrative with Nat Geo Photographer Sofia Jaramillo | Hispanic Heritage Month

I first started with photography on a college road trip with my dad, and I took this picture. I remember looking at the back of my camera and just being like, “This is it, this is what I’m gonna do for the rest of my life.”

My name is Sophia Jaramillo. I'm a National Geographic photographer and Explorer. I felt like I grew up between two worlds, kind of in the middle, not knowing where to land. I'm a bridge between two cultures, and I try to see the beauty in that.

In 2018, I moved to Jackson Hole to pursue my dream of becoming an adventure photographer, and pretty quickly I realized that there was an issue with representation. So today, I'm kind of trying to change the narrative by creating those images.

One that comes to mind right off the bat was a profile piece on a Latina woman who works for the national parks here. That photo is saying, “We are here, we deserve to be here, and you are welcome.”

Right now, the stories that I'm most interested in are the stories that combine some of the most important issues of our time: social justice and climate justice. The more people we can welcome into the outdoors, the more tools we have and ideas we have to fight climate change.