40 West Arts Featured Artist

Nathan Montoya

In early 2023 40 West Arts kicked off a new program, our 40 West Arts Ambassador Program. In exchange for a one-year free artist membership, waived submission fees, and other benefits, the 40 West Arts Ambassadors help staff our gallery (and headquarters), act as advocates for the district, volunteer in other capacities, and more. 40 West Arts will be working to celebrate these individuals for their incredible contributions to the district.

We invite you to meet and read more about our current featured artist and 40 West Arts Ambassador Nathan Montoya. Nathan is a photographer and creative, and we are proud to have him in our district.

Explain what you do in a few sentences.
In a few sentences I worked in emergency medicine for just a little over a decade before I walked away from it all, and really wanted to pursue photography full-time. I currently use a Canon 7DMKII, a Canon 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM, Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5, and a Canon 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS.

Where do you find inspiration?
My inspiration comes from a very raw experience of life that I have lived. I've seen many unspeakable and unimaginable things from my previous line of work as well as experiences from being an active alcoholic but have been in recovery for the past 9 months! You're either inspired to capture and create something serene and peaceful to look at or show the world the things that happen in the gutters of our society. The things that people think they want to see but wouldn't get close to with all their willpower, both are inspiring to grab my camera and run around.

How do you know when an artwork is done? 
In regards to knowing when my art is finished, I honestly don't have a concise answer. I suppose there's a point I get to after post-production that I feel everything is complete, I tend to keep post-production very simple. I approach the finished product by getting it right in camera to avoid lengthy and unnecessary editing. With all that being said, I definitely revisit my raw files and redo edits to images I haven't touched in a decade at times. I'm not sure when it's done, I just end up with a look I feel I have achieved over the years.

What is the most helpful advice you’ve gotten from another artist?
The most helpful advice I have received from another artist is to just start because you never know what the outcome will be. Up until the "Fragile Things" Exhibition last November 4th I had never submitted any work to attempt to be accepted into a show. I had only submitted pieces due to the artist mentioned above and have since been in one other 40 West Arts exhibition. Advice that seems so small and such general knowledge is what propelled me to attempt something I wouldn't have prior.

What do you wish you’d learned sooner in your artist journey?
I wish I would've learned more about the importance of a website especially early on. I used to attempt to write in a blog format with my photos attached circa 2012 but the problem was I had no store. The Instagram algorithm at the time was crucial to photographers and the numbers looked quite different back then and I was one that thought it would last forever so I walked away from the website idea at the time. Eleven years later and I've had a website since January of this year and have had multiple purchasers and it makes a world of difference. To be fair it looks a lot different initially trying a website as someone who is learning compared to being more experienced now.