Finding Hope on a Billboard
After several personal setbacks, single mother
Cielo de la Paz needed a small sign to remind her
that happier days lay ahead. In 2015, she got that
sign when Apple selected the 39-year-old’s photo
for its Shot on iPhone 6 campaign, which would
be featured on billboards all over the world.
The picture, taken after a rainstorm, is a
reflection of Cielo herself in a puddle with fallen
leaves creating a frame around her silhouette.
She is holding a red umbrella.
What Apple saw as pretty and artful, the
artist sees as autobiographical. “For me person-
ally, it was a really big deal,” said de la Paz, who
lives in Alameda, California. “The billboard is a
symbol of hope. Hope that when you’re lost, you
will be found — literally, on Flickr.”
Although many pictures chosen by Apple
for the campaign were created by well-established
professionals who had integrated the iPhone into
their editorial work, many others were taken by
hobbyists who pursued photography for fun. All
were thrilled to be part of what would become a
global photography exhibition.
Shortly after finding out that Apple had
selected her work, de la Paz spotted her photo-
graph on a billboard and had to pull off to the side
of the road to take in the moment. She remembers
sobbing. Fittingly, the song “Best Day of My Life” by
American Authors was playing on the radio. Seeing
her picture featured was especially meaningful
because of the hardships she’d had to overcome.
Born into poverty in the Philippines, de la
Paz was briefly separated from her mother, Tess,
who went to Australia in search of work. She was
reunited with her mother in Australia when she
was seven years old, but though her mother had
jobs, they were always living in fear of eviction.
When her mother felt they had run out of oppor-
tunities in Australia, the two moved to California
to live with relatives.
Her mother sometimes worked two jobs to
make life for the two of them as financially stable
as possible, but there were times they could
momentarily forget their struggles. Tess liked
taking pictures, and her daughter was always
curious about her mother’s photography when
they went to parks or botanical gardens. On her
10th birthday, Tess bought her daughter a cam-
era, and de la Paz began mimicking whatever her
mother was doing with her camera.
But her family discouraged her from pur-
suing creative fields and persistently steered her
toward studies and an eventual career that could
provide stability. She got good grades, went to col-
lege to study business and computer science, and
became an independent UX designer with a goal of
launching her own company.
“I didn’t focus on anything artistic because I
knew the importance of needing to make money,”
she said. “It made practical sense.” She got mar-
ried, had two sons, and finally achieved financial
security. But by 2010, she was divorced and on
her own with her boys. She felt something was
missing and thought finding her biological father
would fill the void. She found him in 2013, but it
was not the love-filled reunion she had hoped for.
Despite her disappointment, she was able
to refocus her energy and found inspiration in
photography. In 2014, she took classes, went on
25 excursions with photography meet-up groups,
and continued taking pictures. Sometimes she
got up at 4:30 AM to chase a sunrise in hopes of
getting that perfect shot.
Through photography, she found what was
missing from her life — a sense of wonder and
playfulness. You can see glimpses of her expres-
siveness on Instagram, where she has gained
followers since the iPhone 6 campaign.
“My creativity is starting to come out,” she
said. “It’s kind of a rediscovery, and I am seeing
everything over again. I want to take pictures
of everything and of how I feel in that moment.
I’ve had to struggle. My life hadn’t been awesome.
So when I was in the car that day, I was feeling
relief and joy coming together.”
When she learned that her picture was on
a billboard in New York City, she had to see it
in person. In April 2015, de la Paz, her mother,
and her sons, Nolan and Grayson, flew to New
York City to see her rain puddle reflection on a
billboard. They looked up and then at each other.
Her mother said, “Wow, Cielo. You made it.”
Cielo de la Paz took a selfie that reflected the story of her life. PHOTO: Cielo de la Paz/Apple
Finding Hope on a Billboard
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