At 80, Portland Photographer Sergio Ortiz Is Stin poor health In search of Marvel

Sergio Ortiz retains a picture of the Earth taken from area as his cellphone wallpaper. “That’s my home,” he says. “That’s our home.” Ortiz, who turned 80 this month, grew up within the South Bronx and moved to Eugene in 1979 after a stint within the US Air Force, a motorbike tour throughout the nation, and pictures faculty in California. He was visiting a pal in Portland when Mount St. Helens blew its high in 1980 (“I figured that was a good welcoming”), and he moved right here about 5 years later. A business photographer by commerce who’s additionally shot gorgeous landscapes from Neskowin to Banff to New Zealand, Ortiz ultimately stepped away from the studio and later launched a guiding firm, Endless Oregon Tours. Though postsurgery sepsis slowed him down in 2025, he nonetheless shuttles vacationers to the coast, the Gorge, and wine nation.

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I grew up in New York. We have been very, very poor. We have been residing within the basement of an condominium constructing within the South Bronx, and, as a result of my stepfather was the superintendent, I might rise up each morning and straighten up all the rubbish. And then I might sweep the halls down, and I’d mop the halls down. We had no cash to journey.

I all the time had an curiosity about this world. But I used to be caught on this one place. When I grew to become 18, I used to be in a position to enter the [air force]. I liked being within the air. It was a terrific escape for me. I went to Vietnam after my first yr. I labored on electrical programs of aircrafts. And I did load mastering, which is placing cargo on aircrafts. There’s a science to that. Everything’s bought to be balanced.

I bought damage about two and a half years into the service. I went again to New York and was within the hospital there. Almost two years later, I purchased [a] motorbike and traveled across the United States. I had a BMW R90S. I rode that for 22 years, 23 years. I might push it to 157 miles per hour. That’s the place it redlines.

I went to California…. I slept in canyons and I slept on mountaintops. When I slept within the desert, I slept on my motorbike as a result of there’s scorpions on the market. I had a go well with that had {an electrical} system so I may hold myself heat. In my helmet I had a radio so I may take heed to music whereas I used to be on the street. I’m a classical man. 

I didn’t need to be close to folks. I remoted myself fairly a bit. I simply needed to be in contact with nature. We’re animals. You know what I imply? I used to be making an attempt to grasp what my position is. I’m nonetheless making an attempt to grasp. I’m nonetheless in a state of marvel.

I used to be residing outdoors LA. I saved up and acquired this Minolta digicam. I feel it was a SR-T 101. I simply began taking photos of the whole lot. I used to be making an attempt to grasp extra about myself and the way I used to be seeing the world. 

I had a 5,000-square-foot studio [in Portland] and made a residing doing pictures, business work, for 30-some-odd years. When the digital revolution occurred, all people who needed to be a photographer grew to become a photographer. 

A pal of mine opened up a touring firm. He was in search of drivers, and he was paying 25 bucks an hour. I like to drive. And so I’m driving for him, I’m assembly folks from all around the world, and I’m taking them to the coast, to the waterfalls, and to the mountains and the vineyards. After doing that a short time, I spotted, wow, I feel I discovered my calling right here.

I began doing quite a lot of analysis about this state—traditionally, geology-wise, geographics, you realize—all the info I may share with folks in a really entertaining approach. I’m form of an entertainer.

My first cease once I do the waterfalls tour is Chanticleer Point, also called the [Portland] Women’s Forum. That’s a really stunning viewpoint. People take photos prefer it’s going out of fashion.