He started as an intern making $20 a day. Now this photographer is among the Forbes 30 Under 30

When Gabriel Perez Silva first moved to New York to pursue photography, he started as an unpaid intern at a modeling agency, where he received a $20 a day stipend to pay for lunch. Today, the photographer finds himself among the tech moguls, Hollywood stars, inventors, researchers and venture capitalists on the coveted Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2024.

Perez Silva’s photography portfolio now includes campaigns created for Prada, Calvin Klein, and MAC Cosmetics, magazine appearances from GQ to Vogue, and Times Square billboards, as well as an Art Basel exhibition tied to his continuing passion project with scoliosis patients. His career has led him to meet celebrities from Shaun White, Jenna Ortega, and Jari Jones to even the Nobel Peace Prize winner and first female president in Africa Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

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With more than a decade of experience reviewing and writing about cameras and technology, Hillary K. Grigonis leads the US coverage for Digital Camera World. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Digital Trends, Pocket-lint, Rangefinder, The Phoblographer and more.

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