AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Simon Torres Mohess and the only exposure I really like is the exposure of the images I send my clients.

I am a freelance/wedding photographer.

The Torres in our name comes from my grandfather, who came to Trinidad from Venezuela when he was 17.

I was born and raised in South Trinidad, the land of the laid-back. As a baby I was on the Trintoc camp. Eventually I moved to the Palmiste area.

Well, my family. I currently live in Palmiste with my cat Pan.

I come from a small family and am still blessed having both parents, Clyde and Sandra, and my elder brother Jonathan resides in Canada.

I do not have a family but would love to have a kid one day. Who would follow in my footsteps as a photographer, the same way as I followed in my father’s footsteps.

My father taught me everything I know about photography.

My childhood was always spent playing in the South Trintoc Penal camp with cows roaming freely around me while I rode my bike. I grew up swimming, playing tennis and doing a lot of recreational stuff, thanks to the good old days of Trintoc/Petrotrin.

Eventually my parents moved into Palmiste. My adolescence in the early 90s was spent running through fields, parks and exploring abandoned houses looking for adventure.

I had a very fun childhood. I think it has kept me balanced and level-minded.

I attended Cedar Grove Primary, Grant Memorial Presbyterian and St Benedict’s College.

I've always been proud of my parents.

My mother Sandra, a Trini to d bone, is a talented chef and decorator. I use her work as a learning tool.

My father Clyde is a medical doctor who spent most of his life working in the oil industry. He retired recently with the closure of Petrotrin. He is most dedicated to his patients and family alike.

He did amateur photography most of his life. He always walked with a camera and I and my brother looked at him in awe in the church, on the streets and on Carnival days in Port of Spain. He never asked me to do photography but was my greatest inspiration.

I did a degree in IT, but as a teenager, I use to steal his Nikon cameras to do photos in the garden and at beaches. I always wanted to share in the hype my father experienced on the stage and on the streets in Port or Spain.

Eventually as I grew, I started shooting alongside him. Now he has given over photography totally to me.

I believe in an afterlife, reincarnation and karma. For me it certainly is not a long cold sleep after death.

I like black.

Music helps motivates me to create short films and local nature documentaries. I listen to oldies 80s music.

Michael Jackson is still the King of Pop. I think I'm stuck in that 80s genre.

I saw the documentary Leaving Neverland and wasn't impressed. Nothing will change the fact that he was one of the greatest and some of his songs will forever be a part of my life and early childhood memories. (Also) the judge dismissed MJ's accusers cause the stories kept changing over and over: no real facts till this day.

I tend to gravitate mor