A WAY OF SEEING
These photographs are not a record of where I have been. They are fragments of how I see.
Across different cities, cultures and circumstances, I am drawn to the same quiet tensions: intimacy and distance, beauty and imperfection, stillness and movement, what is revealed and what remains beneath the surface.
Together, these images form a visual language shaped by cinema, architecture, memory and human behavior. Gathered over time, they reflect the perspective I bring to every story I create.
IN THE PARK
Opening sequence for an international feature
Filmed in Berlin, In the Park is a visual overture shaped by silence, proximity and presence. Two anonymous figures share a park bench while gesture, light and distance express what dialogue cannot.
Presented in black and white, the sequence removes the specificity of place and allows the encounter to feel universal—an intimate moment that could unfold anywhere.
Shot in Berlin by Alberto J. Marzan
SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS
Created during film projects, location scouts, editorial shoots and creative development, these photographs extend my filmmaking practice beyond the moving image. Together, they explore the places, details and human moments that shape how I see and tell stories.
Alone · Art Deco South Beach · Chamoise Design Collective · Chula Vista Magazine · Chula Vista South Bay · Draw the Line · Fool’s Gold · I Can See You · Jolly My Ranch · Mars · Me Ore You · Mesmerized · Palm Vibes · Paris Nights · Retreat · Room for Us · Rosa, Buenos Aires · Spark · The Alley · The Gold · Waving · Year-Round Summer
Photographed and titled by Alberto J. Marzan.
VUMATV
Multicultural streaming network founded in 2020
I founded VumaTV to create a streaming platform that reflected the world as it truly exists: diverse, interconnected and culturally rich.
Inspired by my Dominican and Venezuelan heritage, VumaTV offered multicultural programming shaped by authentic voices and experiences. Its name came from the Zulu word vuma, meaning “altogether”—a reflection of its mission to make representation more inclusive and accessible.
Founded by Alberto J. Marzan
SOUTH BAY
Coming-of-age drama series set in 1990s Southern California
Currently in development
Set in Chula Vista, ten miles from the U.S.–Mexico border, South Bay follows five students navigating identity, family, ambition and gang culture during the final high-school generation before social media.
Inspired by actual events, the series unfolds against the vibrant culture of lowriders, hip-hop and a predominantly Mexican American, Black and Latino community. As unlikely bonds form across cultural and social divides, the students discover how discipline, loyalty and collective ambition can transform lives—and an entire school.
Created by Alberto J. Marzan
A photograph begins with what is noticed. A story begins with how it is seen.
ROSA
Rosa examines the tension between beauty and impermanence. The rose—an enduring symbol of elegance and fragility—becomes a vessel for what lies beneath the surface: decay, affliction and the quiet deterioration inherent in all living things.
Originally painted in watercolor in Buenos Aires, the triptych preserves the delicacy and translucence of the medium while its presentation on recycled aluminum introduces a contrasting sense of permanence. Exhibited in La Jolla, California, in February 2023, Rosa invites the viewer to consider beauty not as the absence of decay, but as something made more meaningful by its inevitability.
Watercolor transferred through dye sublimation onto recycled aluminum
Triptych · 33 × 25 inches each
Edition of one
Buenos Aires, Argentina · Exhibited in La Jolla, California, February 2023
Driven by inquiry, Alberto J. Marzan is a filmmaker, producer, and creative director drawn to what lies beneath the surface—the contradictions, emotions, and truths that make us human. His perspective is shaped by cinema, design, and culture.
ABOUT ALBERTO
