Arabela Espinoza got her start with a camera in an elementary school after-school program on the East Side of San Jose. After studying advertising at San Jose State University, contributing to Content Magazine, and co-founding the commercial creative agency Weekend Creative, Espinoza built a career around product photography and art direction. Following the closure of her agency, her work has turned inward, stepping away from commercial sets to focus on family memory, attachment, and loss through hand-stitched childhood archive photos.
In this conversation, Espinoza talks about moving from high school portraiture to editorial work, running a commercial creative agency, and shifting into personal, conceptual art.
Espinoza was featured as the artist in residence for the August 2026 edition of The Haberdasher Shows, presenting her mixed-media exhibition at Haberdasher in downtown San Jose as part of the official San José Jazz Summer Fest Pre-Party.
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