ambassador spotlight

For those discovering your work for the first time, could you tell us a little about yourself and where you currently call home?

I’m a professional photographer. I’ve always studied photography, but even before I knew photography itself, I knew image editing. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been drawn to blending textures and colors, without even knowing that it could become not just a job, but a philosophy of life and my current passion.

I knew Photoshop before I even had a camera in my hands. I’ve always used it playfully and taught myself.

I’m Argentinian; I lived there almost my entire life, and that’s where I developed as a professional and as a person. A year ago, I moved to Madrid, and now Spain is my new home.

There are many conceptual self-portraits throughout your body of work and, honestly, looking at some of them, I still have no idea how you created them.
How did your journey into Photoshop and digital art begin?

Well, self-portraiture is something that helps me find my voice within the image. When I needed to express an idea, I realized that I’m always available to myself, and using my body as a form of expression helps me explore and express myself.

I don’t always have the physical resources to realize my ideas.

That’s why digital tools have always been the bridge to materialize the ideas I wanted to achieve.

My journey in the digital world began when I was a teenager. I loved taking pictures of my friends with a very old, non-professional camera I had. Then, I would get home and blend textures in those photos, add colors, and edit with almost no knowledge, but with a lot of enthusiasm.

That’s how, over time, I became more interested in editing programs like Photoshop, and from then until today, I’ve never stopped using it.

How did you learn photography and retouching?
Were you self-taught, mentored, formally educated, or a mixture of everything?

I learned about the visual arts in many ways.

When I finished high school, in addition to studying philosophy and literature, I began a technical degree in photography.

Then I pursued a professional degree, followed by master’s degrees in lighting, art direction, production, and so on. I studied advertising creativity and trained as an art director.

In parallel, I’ve always been very fond of and close to painting. Since I was little, I drew a lot of anime, and I liked using all kinds of paints, even makeup, haha. But I always, always, always love to paint. And to paint anything: a face, an image, a wall, a body. I love painting in all its forms.

Painting and the fusion of colors are something that has always moved me deeply.

So I started painting in oils (and I still paint to this day) as another way to express myself. It helps me understand color, light, and shadow from a different perspective.

One thing leads to another if you’re sufficiently connected to your artistic expression.

As I mentioned, since I was a teenager, when the transition from analog to digital photography began around 2000, I was already editing, without any real knowledge, the photos I took of my friends, using the early versions of Photoshop and playing with layers and textures.

Then, like any slightly nerdy person, I started getting more and more involved.

The internet helped a lot to expand my world and my knowledge.

I met friends, great retouchers today, who taught me a lot, and we spent entire nights without sleep, editing nonstop.

It’s fascinating when you start using a tool and you’re in a state of flow, where you’re one with the tool.

You could say that I discovered digital retouching by chance, but that in a way I was already doing it analogically, painting with oils.

It’s also true that I’ve always been self-taught, and over time I’ve had great friends and colleagues who have taught me a lot. But I’ve learned most of it by observing and practicing, making mistakes, doing it again, doing it better, and so on in a loop.

How long have you been working in the creative industry?

To this day, we can say that I’ve been working more professionally for 17 years, and we’re still going…

Was there a moment when you realised this could become more than a hobby?

There were definitely key moments when my passion for photography and retouching became more than just a hobby.

What started happening was that what was going on inside me began to be reflected on the outside.

Images became my entire life, my language, and my way of understanding the world.

I wanted to take photos all the time; I had my camera around my neck all day, developing ideas and productions to bring them to life with my friends.

People found it fun, and they liked it. That’s how I started getting calls to do portraits, album covers, photograph places, etc., and as people often say these days: “Add your magic,” haha.

What part of creating your images do people rarely see or appreciate?

We often showcase the finished results of our work, but we don’t always share the processes.

Behind the creation of an image, there are many steps leading up to the final result, and an invisible team that makes it all possible.

In my case, people sometimes think that most of my images are composites or heavily retouched.

When in reality, 80–90% is production and photography, and only 10–20% is retouching.

I like to say that having retouched images continuously for so many years has made me a better photographer.

What is something people assume about having a large audience online that isn’t actually true?

I think sometimes people assume they can’t access your work, that it’s more elite, or that they simply can’t afford it.

This isn’t true at all.

Sometimes networks and audiences make these assumptions because they only see flashy end results and believe they can’t access them.

Has success looked the way you imagined it would when you first started?

I like the depth of this question.

I imagine there isn’t just one way to answer it sometimes.

Because it all depends on what each of us calls “success.”

For me, it’s a success because over time I’ve discovered that both photography and digital retouching are my language and my way of expressing myself.

Because I’ve learned to be a great observer and to have the power to create the landscapes and scenes my mind desires.

And because it’s one of the most powerful tools for self-knowledge that I know.

Perhaps I didn’t imagine any of this when I started as a teenager; I didn’t know where it would lead me.

I only know that it has exceeded my expectations and that I am very grateful.

Through your teaching, you’ve helped many creatives grow.
What is the most common thing you see holding people back?

Ugh, haha, this is my favorite part.

If I’ve helped someone grow or see the world differently, for me, that’s already a mission accomplished.

Throughout my 15 years of teaching, I’ve seen it all…

But there’s one constant that always repeats itself, and that is that learning anything in life is a process.

It’s like learning a new language; in fact, it’s a type of language, visual language.

And this takes time and a whole process that fluctuates in different ways; it’s not straight or linear, it’s cyclical.

Sometimes I see a lot of frustration and little tolerance for the long, organic processes that our body and mind need.

I feel like people want to learn everything right away and be experts without any experience.

That only comes with time, practice… and patience, of course, haha.

What advice would you give to someone who feels intimidated by Photoshop or believes they are not creative enough?

Well, I’d tell them to give it a chance!

It’s okay to feel intimidated or uncreative when you’re not fully familiar with the software. Yes, it’s logical!

But Photoshop is here as a catalog of resources for the imagination, and it’s here to make your ideas possible.

It’s okay to be afraid, but it’s important to explore it.

This depends on each person’s personality; there’s no single piece of advice that works for everyone.

But in my opinion and personal experience, it’s always helped me to have a playful approach to the things I want to learn. To treat them like a game, as something to have fun with and see what happens…

You can find more of Mikeila Borgia’s work on her LinkedIn, Instagram, ArtStation, and Behance, where she shares her conceptual photography, self-portraits, creative projects, and the visual storytelling that defines her work.