If you’re a local El Pasoan scrolling through Instagram, there is a good chance you’ve seen picturesque photos of the city reposted on the popular Instagram account FitFam. Although we all know what our city looks like, these photographs bring a new perspective, making locals feel as if they are seeing El Paso for the first time.
Showcasing our city’s sunsets, sunrises, downtown and overall scenery, local content creator Christian Iglesias (known as Christian Churches on social media) has helped give the community a newfound appreciation for the sun city’s views by capturing our landscapes and city life through his camera and drone.
“I want people to see the real El Paso,” Iglesias said. “Especially today when there are a lot of narratives about the southern border. We have a lot of beautiful visuals, but because I think it’s all part of our normal environment, we decide not to look at it, but when we really just pause, I think more people will realize how unique and beautiful our city is. I want the message to be ‘this is us.”
Iglesias wasn’t always the social media sensation we now know, but a passionate student wanting to learn more about journalism. Iglesias looked up to his older brother who took home a camera daily from being in yearbook. From there, it seemed as if his future was in “focus.”
In addition to his brother, wartime photography is also what inspired him to go into multimedia journalism and make a career out of creation. Through the classes and experience he gained during his time at New Mexico State, Iglesias gained knowledge on the broadcast side of media.
From working on streams for churches like Abundant Living to graphic designer for school districts and even multimedia editor and director for Viva Auto Group, Iglesias worked for several businesses over the course of three years, gaining him plenty of experience.
At this time, Iglesias didn’t really have a social following but was posting his side ventures occasionally. However, in the Winter of 2022, Iglesias had posted a photo of the sun city covered in a blanket of snow using a drone. From this point, Iglesias would not only gain a following but would also become known for his iconic drone content.
“We had a snowstorm, and I had a drone, so I had decided to go out and get footage,” he said. “It was like six in the morning right before my nine to five. I had driven downtown just to capture those visuals. At the time, I had like 1,200 followers and that post did really well. I had a lot of engagement and people really gravitated towards it because people don’t really see the city covered in snow, especially through drone shots.”
From that point, Iglesias made it a goal to post his content such as the visuals he’s captured of the city daily to help give different perspectives of the city and to make locals have a better sense of pride when it came to being an El Pasoan.
“My main motivator was knowing that there wasn’t a lot of positive content about our city, and I knew just how much beauty our city offered,” he said. “I knew that even if nobody likes it, I was still doing something that I could look back on and appreciate. Later that year I made a connection with FitFam and they started reposting my stuff and we even ended up collaborating on a project later that year. I think what I love about drones is that you can capture unique perspectives. You can fly it and frame the downtown scenery and create something beautiful. I’m glad I made it a part of my niche.”
With Iglesias starting to become the city’s resident “drone master”, the El Paso Airport even reached out to Iglesias to create a drone safety project that would help educate flyers on not crossing airport territory. Iglesias also worked with the Chamber to create a documentary about the star on the mountain. Although Iglesias has had plenty of opportunities and has grown to over 44,000 followers on Instagram, he works toward creating for himself and published a photobook earlier this year.
“While I was working with the Chamber, I had to go through a lot of archival footage and books, and I thought to myself ‘why aren’t these a thing anymore,” he said. “Photobooks were really big back in the day. The seed was planted, and I told myself I needed to do this. I try to hand deliver them to the locals that purchase them. I’m very grateful that people gravitated toward my type of work. Seeing a breathtaking sunset photo at the end of the day might just turn someone’s day around, and that’s what I’m grateful for.”
In June of this year, Iglesias took part in his first exhibit alongside local photographer Armando Rodriguez at the Purple Gallery located on Oregon Street. The exhibit, titled “Young Guns”, aimed at showcasing young talent by exploring the way they’ve captured life in the Paso Del Norte region.
“It was a three to four week turn around,” he said. “We had a good audience the first night. As an artist, I feel like we’re our own worst critics. When you see your work printed out, you ask yourself ‘should I have picked another photo?’ It’s nice to have someone else tell you ‘no, this was the right choice.”
Despite having accomplished so much while only in his twenties, Iglesias says the highlight of his career is being able to help local businesses.
“Every year I strive to do a video edit on 915 day,” he said. “I want to include as many local businesses and artists as I can. This year we were able to include over 16 businesses and individuals and it’s all pro bono. I give a lot of the footage away to these businesses as a thank you for letting me film them. It’s cool to see a lot of different people come together and promote their love for El Paso. It’s something very inspiring to me and it’s something I love to do. My goal in life is to create something that is going to outlive me and resonate with people through art.”
