South End — Charlotte, NC
For those who know or are aware of Rico Marcelo, all you see is a smile. From a hospitality mindset and passion, Rico provides the a helping hand when he can to the community. “I Grew up in Virginia Beach. I love helping people, I love the idea of serving people. I studied hospitality management and worked in a few different jobs and always did photography on the side. There was no real path for photography, I just loved it. COVID hit and it was just brutal for the hospitality business. I was furloughed from my job. It took out the warm welcoming of hospitality so it was just a hard time. My girlfriend and I decided to take a trip to Asheville and travel around and see new cities and on the way back we just decided to check out Charlotte. We immediately loved it. After that year we took a chance and closed out that chapter of our lives and wanted to see what Charlotte had to offer. This city is so welcoming. I first reached out to Yelp because I had a connect in Virginia Beach and after that — it was just moments of connecting with different people and I wanted to find ways to help.”
It’s always interesting to hear how hobbies or passions start for people so where did the photography passion start for Rico? “In college I saved up to afford a DSLR and I went out to bars and photographed the night life for the bars for free tabs and would tag them on Facebook. As that started to grow it was just word of mouth of people knowing a friend with a camera. During COVID I would offer my work for free to help restaurants because it was such a tough time. At the core it’s hospitality — serving clients and giving them that experience that creates an ever lasting memory that they can have. That’s amazing. You don’t know what other people are dealing with so the smallest thing can make the biggest difference.”
What was that proud moment for Rico that has shaped him into the person he is today? “I’ve been through some hardships and I’m here to share my experiences. People seek advice, I just spit off my story because sometimes it’s important to talk about it. ArtPop was just another proud moment where I still can just describe it as — crazy. A photo you took overlooking the skyline, that’s crazy. Art wasn’t a traditional path in my family and they didn’t understand that it can be sustainable and now seeing their support, acceptance and seeing my Dad share my photos and see how proud he is? That’s everything. I just want to make my family happy.”
Any important lessons you take with you on a daily basis? I try to preserve the memories for others. Like I said, you never know what someone is going through. I’ll use the bar for example. I bartend now and maybe someone is having a hard week, they saved up enough money to just get out for a night and enjoy themselves. They might be struggling with anything and they need that release. So with that or photography I’m trying to make that moment special and what they need. You don’t know how long we have so capturing and perserving those moments is super impactful. I take it day to day and I’m just thankful and I want to make people happy. Positivity, man. Let’s all work together.”