Hi, I’m Tristen Aque. I make real life pictures that stand up to the test of time.
TRIS-ten AH-kay (n.)
Rhymes with sake.
INFJ, Enneagram 4, Ravenclaw, self proclaimed psychology quiz nerd.
Translated, my full name means “Noisy little helper is here.” That was an accident, resulting from a Brad Pitt movie my mom liked and a 500 year old Filipino typo.
I was born and raised in New Mexico, and grew tangled roots in the Land of Entrapment. This is where I got grounded for reading instead of cleaning, where I smuggled the dog inside when my mom wasn’t home, and where I accidentally graffitied my own fence. This is where I married the love of my life in my parents’ backyard, found a steak so good we save up to make it a yearly tradition, and welcomed my twins much too early to the world - but they didn’t know and they didn’t care. I’ve been late to everything ever since.
I wasn’t born with a camera in my hand. I wanted to be everything from a scientist to a professional letter-writer when I grew up. Eventually, I stopped trying to be things and just let my curiosity drag me through adulthood. I listened to people’s stories. I watched tiny moments - brown eyes hiding behind bangs, a grin before someone tastes the blood on their teeth, the fragile quiet after a long drive home, the sizzling smell of rain drops on sunbaked asphalt. Photography became my way of placing them on the shelf next to my other stories, tucking them into coat pockets every morning, and passing them on, tender and worn.
I’ve been lucky enough to be featured in Corrales Neighbors Magazine, Balanced Focus Magazine, the This Can’t Be That Hard Podcast, and - my favorite - the walls of some unforgettable families, hiding the patched holes.
These days you’ll find me re-reading Paulo Coelho, demolishing an entire tub of green chili dip my kids won’t touch because it’s Spicy™, and involuntarily absorbing my husband’s torque specs and Pokémon trivia, like a tragic reluctant hero.
And honestly, I’d love to hear your story next.
One day, we will all be nothing but stories. But they will be the stories worth telling.
Photo by Tish Goff
Photo by Christian Aque