Making Time : Elo Vázquez

Do you have a day job? What is it?

I started working as a Spanish teacher four months ago, but right now I don't have any students and I'm very sad. And tomorrow I start an internship in a small translation company.

Do the people you work with know you are a photographer?

It's a very big school and I haven't been there for long and only a few know about it. But I think I haven't told anyone.

Does the work you do during the day affect your personal work?

Actually, I have an ongoing series called Spanish class. I take a picture of each of my students and I ask them for a handwritten paper where they can tell me anything they want - their names, where they're from, what they like and dislike, what is their motivation to study Spanish. It's hard meeting so many interesting people and knowing that you're never going to see them again, so I guess this is a nice way of never forgetting them and also of merging my work as a teacher and as a photographer.



If you could rearrange your time, what would be the ideal balance between your personal and professional work?

I would work two days in my personal work, two days in my professional work. And then three days in my personal work, three days in my professional work. It's a very nice system I had when I used to work in a pizza place in Reykjavík. I really enjoyed that new whole concept of time.

Images: Elo Vázquez, from Spanish class (2008)