Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez

Based
Madrid, Spain
Born
Madrid, Spain
Status
Photographer
“If you think that you can become rich from photography, forget it.”

Beat

Sports, politics, breaking news, entertainment, culture.

One Shot

. Terceira, Portugal. Reuters/Sergio Perez
U.S. President George W. Bush puts his hand on the shoulder of former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as British Prime Minister Tony Blair stands beside them during the Azores meeting just before the start of the second Iraq war.
“This picture was printed on the front page of almost every newspaper in Spain as well as around the world. I won the “Ortega y Gasset” award, one of the most prestigious journalistic accolades in Spain for it, and more than 10 years on, it is still being printed in the media.”

Profile

I grew up with photography at home as my father was a professional photographer for Spanish news agency EFE for about 45 years. He was always talking about his experiences and had many anecdotes from his travels.

I’m a self-taught photographer with a few basics I learned from my father. If I’m honest, I wanted to become photographer to be able to travel and have the same experiences my father had. But with time, this amazing profession completely won me over.

I can’t remember exactly what my first assignment was. One of the first stories I covered was an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference as well as an Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. It was a great experience, especially as it was the start of my career. I had the honour of working with some great photographers and editors and learning secrets of the trade -- doing hundreds of prints in the laboratory as well as practicing as the emerging digital era came about.

As a sport lover, my first Olympic Games, in Sidney in 2000, left many great memories. Apart of being able to cover my favourite sport, basketball, in the biggest sporting event, I had the chance to share pictures, laughs and chats with many great photographers, processors and editors, all working together to ensure we provided the best pictures to our clients around the world. I love to cover all kind of sport assignments, especially sports I don’t cover usually as well as stories that provide us an with an advantage against rivals.

Photojournalism is important because we are witnesses to what is happening in the world, we show the truth, facts without any manipulation, and from which people themselves can make up their own opinions on matters.

If you think that you can become rich from photography, forget it. This is an incredible profession with many great moments but you have to love and respect it because if not, you are in the wrong job.

I hope that going forward, as photojournalists we can maintain our high standards to continue to provide the truth to people so that they keep on trusting and respecting us.

After all these years in the business, I’ll be always grateful to my father who introduced me to this amazing world, in which I have made many true friends.

Behind the Scenes

. Madrid, SPAIN. REUTERS
Sergio Perez files pictures surrounded by Spanish National Police officers during a break in riot at a demonstration.