Hello! I'm Michael—a multimedia marketing producer and content strategist with a proven track record of combining data-driven insights and visual storytelling to build brands and drive growth across digital platforms.
I produce human-centered marketing videos, commercial photography, and integrated social media campaigns that help corporate and nonprofit organizations expand their reach, deepen audience engagement, and achieve measurable results. From concept to execution, I enjoy translating complex ideas into stories that inspire action.
Throughout my career, I've had the opportunity to shoot content for leading brands and institutions, including The New York Times, Red Bull North America, Verizon Wireless, the City of San Antonio, The Globe and Mail, the Urban Land Institute, and NPR. My work has been recognized with seven Telly Awards for excellence in video production and storytelling.
At Centro San Antonio, I spearheaded the first Peacock Alley community activation in April 2019, showcasing portraits from my book, Humans of San Antonio. Later that year, I designed and installed Downtown San Antonio's largest public art mural in Peacock Alley, helping establish the foundation for Centro San Antonio's Art Everywhere initiative. The program grew to include more than 65 public art events and cultural activations, attracted over $300,000 in public and private funding, and contributed to the transformation of Downtown San Antonio into a vibrant public art destination now featuring more than 150 large-scale murals.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcirlos/
BIOGRAPHY
I discovered photography in 2006 when he relocated to Hua Hin, Thailand from San Antonio to study International Relations at Webster University. After two years of studying in Southeast Asia, I received an academic scholarship to continue my education in The Netherlands where I practiced street photography. I graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2010 and later founded Humans of San Antonio, a photojournalism project inspired by “Humans of New York” to promote the visual story of downtown San Antonio. This five year body of work became a book published by Trinity University Press in the summer of 2018.
In 2015, I studied under Rick Loomis at the Mountain Workshops, a pulitzer prize award winning photojournalist of the L.A Times. The Mountain Workshops is one of the best visual storytelling programs in the nation and has a reputation of pushing the creative limits of photographers and videographers.
2015 Mountain Workshops’ graduating class.
Migrant workers in Frankfort, Kentucky. Photo by Michael Cirlos studying under Rick Loomis at the Mountain Workshops in 2015.
My photography has appeared in TEDx San Antonio, Kens 5, San Antonio Express News, Univision 41, The Lake Front, Culture Co-Op of NBC Universal, Skyline Magazine, and has featured work with The Texas Observer. I’m a recipient of the Awesome SA Community Award, and has given photography talks at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, Our Lady of the Lake University, Pecha Kucha San Antonio, and UTSA. I also taught multimedia workshops at the Henry Ford Academy Alameda School of Art and Design and at Fox Tech High School in downtown San Antonio.
Michael’s Photography Workshop at Fox Tech High School in 2018. Trinity University sponsored Humans of San Antonio books for the photojournalism class.
Photography Workshop by Michael Cirlos with Henry Ford Academy Alameda School of Art and Design photography students in 2016.
One of my latest photography exhibitions titled, “Centuries of Immigration” is an interactive story collage that combines San Antonio history, poetry, and street stories taken from the Humans of San Antonio book at The Briscoe Western Art Museum in Downtown San Antonio.
Humans of San Antonio Gallery exhibition and activation of Peacock Alley 2019 initiated the creation of two new programs at Centro San Antonio; ART Everywhere and The Peacock Alley Activations.
mcirlos@gmail.com | 210-908-1912
Select Exhibitions:
Carver Community Cultural Center | January 2014
K23 Gallery | September 2014
Lullwood Gallery | September 2014
Southwest School of Art | January 2015
FOTOSEPTIEMBRE High Wire Arts Gallery | September 2015
AP Art Gallery | January 2016
Central Public Library Photography Exhibition | August 2017
Rosella Coffee Shop Humans of San Antonio Book Launch | June 2018
Briscoe Western Art Museum Centuries of Immigration Photography Exhibition | July 2018
Peacock Alley Public Art Exhibition | March 2019
Second Saturday Art Walk Photography Feature and Mural Exhibition | August & September 2019
Clients:
Centro San Antonio
Culture Co-Op
Red Bull
EPIcenter
The Rivard Report
City of San Antonio DAC
City of San Antonio WHO
Key Ideas
San Antonio Book Festival
Trinity University
Teach For America
San Antonio Cocktail Conference
Hope Hits Harder Cancer Foundation
