Robert Lara is a Los Angeles-based photographer working across personal branding portraits, editorial and commercial work, and an ongoing personal project photographing the city itself.

I was born in Los Angeles and have lived in Southern California my entire life. The diversity of geography, cultures, and people have injected me with an open heart and open mind. I approach my work with a heaping dose of humility because I realize that I can always be better and can always learn. Each time I shoot I am trying to learn a lesson or push myself to understand something in a new way. Music is a massive influence to everything I do in my life and I try to approach photography in the way a song makes me feel. Meaning, for me, a shoot is guided by the emotional charge of music; be it tough, braggadocious, quiet or vulnerable.

My work means so much to me because I want it to be as representative of myself as possible. I care about what I'm doing, and if I can be honest, it took me a long time to be able to comfortably say that. I used to think that if I acted nonchalantly then criticisms couldn't reach me. But the truth is, displaying something I care about and worked hard on opens me up to that vulnerability anyway. If I've shown it, then I feel proud of it and hope you see something of value in it.

At the moment I am working towards expanding my portfolio and showcasing what I've learned and how I've grown.