Ricardo Arduengo or “Ricky” as his friends call him, started out differently than most photographers. He always had a camera, but his passion for music and sound was actually what started out a road that would eventually lead to photography. Ricardo’s parents had a singing group, and they needed a drummer. There was Ricky. Without any formal education in music, he learned to play the drums and the guitar. When his parents needed him to provide the sound for the group, there he was. These experiences lead him to apply for a job as a sound technician in a local radio station. He then worked in various stations and decided that he had found something interesting to do. He decided to reach further and landed a job in Telemundo, one of the major television stations in Puerto Rico as a sound technician. He then found editing, and worked his way into Telemundo/
NBC Puerto Rico editing studios. Although working with other people’s images was exciting enough, he found that he would prefer to be behind the camera. Determination got him a job as studio cameraman, and his professional manner and talent soon took him on location for varios television shows for the channel and later to the Telemundo/
NBC Newscast where he spent the next seven years as a videojournalist. In those seven years of covering everything from fashion to the latest breaking news, Ricardo developed an eye for capturing striking images.
He felt, however, that his creativity with the video camera was not always understood, and that his ideas for great shoots and news stories were not always taken into account. He felt at that time that there was more he could do, and feeling “stuck” in videojournalist, he found solace in photography. As each day passed, his camera invaded his mind and took over. Some of his photographs landed in “Claridad,” a local newspaper, and the photo editor took notice. Under her wing and guidance, he had the confidence to not only freelance for Claridad, but also for the Associated Press, as well as local newspapers, magazines, and even private events. His imagination took flight, his camera drew him closer and closer until he finally he gave into it. He left Telemundo’s newscast and ventured to Orlando, Florida to work in an “up and coming” Spanish newspaper “El Nuevo Día Orlando”. Ricardo finally had an outlet, and in the area that he loved, the printed “news.” In Orlando, he dealt with all kinds of “breaking news” as well as a variety of sports events (which are his second favorite after the “breaking news”). From Nascar Daytona 500 events to Major League Baseball and PGA Golf tournaments, he covered it all. Nonetheless, to follow his dream in Orlando, he paid a high price, leaving his wife and one year old son in Puerto Rico. Even though they had all planned to move in Orlando, things didn’t turn out as smoothly as they figured. When daily phone calls didn’t “cut it” anymore, he decided to apply for a job in Puerto Rico to return to his family.
Having made a name for himself back home, he quickly landed a job in the “Vocero,” one of the well known daily newspapers in Puerto Rico. He currently covers sports, fashion, “breaking news,” social and political events, and anything else that may be happening in the country. Whether its spending weeks under the threat of pepper spray in Vieques covering the NAVY’s bombing exercises, or in the midst of a police operative; in the midst of a baseball game or at the height of excitement in a music concert, Ricardo is there actively and obsessively looking for the perfect shot.
