Dramatic California coastline featuring rugged cliffs plunging into the turbulent Pacific Ocean, with a few small figures standing on a rocky outcrop observing the crashing waves under a clear blue sky.

Welcome to Ultramarine Photo

Welcome to Ultramarine Photo. I’d like to share with y’all a little about what it’s taken to get here. 

In the summer of 2022, in the middle of negotiating my very first licensing deal, my life drastically changed. A long-term, emotionally abusive relationship fell apart, and I was in shambles. 

Anyone who’s been gaslit for years will tell you – you lose your ability to trust your own instincts … to know the difference between safety and danger.

I drove to a mental health drop-in center while hyperventilating. What was I going to do? I had no family to fall back on. Should I abandon my freelance business and find a full-time job? Move away from the neighborhood I’d grown to love?

San Francisco street scene featuring local shops, including "All States Best Foods" and "Lori's Ice Cream," capturing the everyday urban life and storefronts.

I was sitting in the lobby of the drop-in center when I got the offer in my email ... it was 10x what I was expecting. I audibly gasped. It was one of those moments where life’s coincidences seem to be a little too much ... is somebody up there watching out for me? Why is this happening TODAY?

The client doesn’t know this, but that deal was the foundation I built my career on. That money was runway: to prove that authentic storytelling has real value. That by packing photos with genuine emotion, caring deeply for the people in them and where they’d come from, you could move people to action. 

I built Ultramarine Photo to give other storytellers that same feeling and opportunity.

Dramatic Oregon Coast headland overlooking the turbulent Pacific Ocean with scattered sea stacks, crashing waves, and a clear blue sky.

In March of 2023, I drove all the way to Las Vegas and back up the California coast, to test the creative premise. I felt so free on that trip. 

On the way up, I stood on the edge of a cliff and stared out at the Pacific Ocean. I imagined a thoughtful, heart-driven artist in Japan or Korea staring back at me. I thought about that longing and connection. The knowledge that there were other artists like me, all around this massive body of water, sharing the experience of gazing at the horizon and wondering who was on the other side. 

I knew exactly what I had to do.

The rest of the industry is moving in the opposite direction: photos as a commodity, photographers getting 0.2% of subscription revenue, “if we don’t have it, we’ll generate it for you with AI!” 

They’re making a catastrophic mistake. 

Because people know real when they see it. And when you trust an artist to tell a story, with the whole of their rich perspective and cultural experience baked into it, audiences can tell the difference. They FEEL it. They remember that feeling, and come back for more.

That’s why contributors to Ultramarine Photo get a no-bullshit 50/50 split of all sales. That’s why we’re empowering them to tell their story, their way. 

The unique style and perspective of their photography, the cultural knowledge they bring to it, and the art of deciding how to present it to you with care and nuance – that is our secret weapon. 

That’s what will make Ultramarine Photo a platform that gives artists that feeling – that their unique, authentic perspective is valuable and powerful – long after I’m gone, and I’ve made my last photo. 

I intend to curate a thoughtful, culturally-informed library that stands the test of time, and documents the complex relationship between humans and their changing environment.

Remarkably, I’ve built a business model and operating structure to make that happen. Ultramarine Photo isn’t going anywhere.

A scenic road winds through the vibrant desert landscape of Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Red and orange rock formations rise from the terrain alongside sparse desert vegetation under a clear blue sky.

In the coming years, these communities around the Pacific Rim are going to change out of necessity. Our civilizations are going to evolve, and meet the moment. 

Artists who care are going to pour significant labor into preserving their culture and community – what they love about it, what fills their hearts up and keeps them creating.

It’s a tradition that our children and grandchildren will thank us for. It’s our duty to them.

Ultramarine Photo will be at the forefront of that. We will tell you stories that honor that evolution, and the people it impacts, for decades to come. We will provide images that move people to act. And we’ll give the artists affirmation that their perspective is valuable and worth preserving, in the exactly the right moment. 

Thanks for coming along with us,

Eliana Mendez
Founder & Curator
Ultramarine Photo

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