Edwin Carungay, De Anza’s senior graphic designer, was admitted to the de Young Museum in San Francisco with his documentary photo, “Los Curas Verde,” which is a striking visual of lent carnavales in Oaxaca, Mexico.

“They (the de Young Museum curators) had over 7000 submissions, and they accepted about 800,” Carungay said. “I haven’t been showing for that long, and (the fact that my picture) was accepted for this (exhibit) is a total honor. It was a start, and I got lucky.”

The de Young Open exhibit runs from Sept. 30 to Jan. 7.

When Carungay was in Mexico, he took “Los Curas Verde” and two other photos for a set that he later titled “A Great Divide,” holding images from late February and early March of 2019 and 2023.

“This series captures a flash of beloved, community-led celebrations from inside Oaxaca’s communities of Santo Tomás Jalieza, San Martín Tilcajete, Zaachila, and Teotitlán del Valle,” Carungay wrote in an email. “These photographs document pre-Lenten celebrations and Lent Carnavales.”

Carungay started his journey in photography as a young competitive skateboarder. He said he loved taking pictures of his friends when they skated together and that the uplifting nature of skateboarding inspired his creativity in photography.

From there, Carungay went into concert videography, and on his wife’s suggestion, he discovered a venue for street and documentary photography in 2016.

“(My wife’s) the one who really inspired me and opened my eyes to a new type of photography,” Carungay said. “It’s something I always saw but never invested time into until she started showing me (photography) books and then taking me to lectures. We’ve been going to workshops together since then.”

Carungay’s documentary style provides challenges. Since the photos are candid and heavily rely on natural lighting, little to no editing, and prime location, it requires an up-close and personal approach to subjects to get the perfect shot.

“It’s a challenging medium in photography to try to get something interesting that people want to look at.

Especially because a lot of (my) photos are candid. I use a rangefinder camera with one lens. I never zoom in for anything up close,” Carungay said. “I only capture photos in the early morning or at dusk. That’s really limiting when I am photographing, too. Early mornings mean not a lot of people are out.”

Carungay said Alex Webb, a Magnum Photo member and photographer known for his vibrant and complex color photos, is a major source of inspiration for him, and he hoped to follow in Webb’s footsteps, both creatively and professionally.

“That’s my goal—to do (photography) workshops around the world,” Carungay said. “I want to be good enough and respected enough to hold audiences and put them through photography bootcamp.”

Carungay’s one piece of advice for aspiring photographers is to “photograph the perimeter of the event.”

“Being on the perimeter allows you to isolate more interesting happenings, events, or even people,” Carungay said. “That’s what I do.”

Visit Carungay’s website, www.reygun.com, or his Instagram account, @gammareygun, for more of his work.