My Crest, My City: Los Angeles

One jacket, 28 crests, endless stories. Over the course of the MLS season, we will be shipping a custom jacket to creators across North America to highlight the diverse and vibrant soccer cultures of various destinations in MLS with the help of Participation Trophy Studio.

As the grassroots soccer community in the U.S. continues to grow coast-to-coast, we are seeing the emergence of exciting creative talent searching for opportunities to break into the world of soccer. This project allows us to showcase emerging creatives through shoots with an exclusive “MLS” themed coach’s jacket. The 1/1 jacket, created by Participation Trophy Studio, is a classic black coach’s jacket decorated with patches from every MLS club. The jacket will travel from city to city and be worn by local models in kits from each respective city.

For our ninth installment, we caught up with LA-based photographer Jen Flores to talk about the inspiration behind her project in her city.

Before we get into anything related to soccer, how did you get started with photography?

Ever since I was little I've always had this passion to take the camera and shoot and capture moments in time. I feel like I’ve always naturally gravitated towards photography because it helped me express my creativity and imagination. And for me, the journey has been a bit more difficult because there aren't many women photographers as role models. Wherever you go, you're going to find the industry to be very male-dominant, but that’s also served as a motivator for me to continue pushing in this space.

What about sports photography? How did you get into that?

It’s all for the beauty of the sport, right? Elevating the sport. It's a fast-growing sport in the United States, and as a Latina, soccer has just been part of who I am since I was a kid. But for me, and I think for many of us in this space, it was all about trying to create something bigger out of what we have. That’s what got me into soccer photography; the power to create and elevate the sport through images.

Do you remember the first game you shot?

I had a friend in college who knew I was into photography, and when the USWNT were coming on tour to LA after the 2015 World Cup, I asked them if I could get into the game through their media outlet. And I got approved.

It was a game against Romania, and that was kind of the start of me really fighting for a spot in sports photography in LA. From there, I’ve always just thought, ‘I can learn, I can grow, and if people believe in me, great, and if they don’t, then I’ll fight for them to believe in me.’ I’m always going to fight for my spot. Looking back at those pictures, they weren’t the greatest, but looking back at them now lets me see how much I’ve grown makes me proud.

What about MLS games you’ve covered in the city? What’s it like getting to cover both teams?

LA is huge and it's big enough for two MLS clubs. I'm so fortunate to be able to cover both teams. Part of why I like to cover both teams is because not only do I get to grow as a photographer, but there's women representation at those games. I remember walking on the field, and a dad pointed at me and told me he said to his little girl, “look she’s a photographer”, it was almost like he was telling her “you can too be on the field one day just like her if you wish”

What are some other memories that stick out, especially with fans over there?

The environment at LAFC games is unmatched and is a testament to how much soccer has grown and is growing in America. With the 3252, the atmosphere that they bring to every game, whether the team is winning or losing, it’s just inspiring. And it's an inspiration for the community. Even just being down on the sideline photographing it just uplifts you. Seeing that unity is inspiring.

Still, I have friends in both fan bases, so I try to be respectful of the rivalry, and I don’t try to show any biases when I’m shooting, which is always important.

What can you tell us about the soccer culture over in LA?

I think the rivalry has really brought out the soccer culture in Los Angeles. Obviously, the Galaxy have been here forever, but I can't even recall the atmosphere in the city being as close to what it is now. It’s like there's been this awakening within the last four years that has gotten people of all ages and cultures jumping up and down for their teams. It’s a growth I hope to continue to see. I feel like I can finally say there is a true soccer culture in Los Angeles. We’re really starting to sense it now that there are two teams, and it’s no longer confined to the regular soccer fans, but it goes way beyond that.

In terms of your My Crest, My City shoot, did any of that serve as inspiration?

One of LAFC’s slogans is, ‘the heart of LA.’ So I wanted to portray that in a sense. I ended up choosing a location that had the skyline of downtown LA, which can actually be seen from the press box at Banc of California. But I really wanted to focus on that skyline and drive home the heart of LA message.

How did you go about selecting a model for your project?

I had seen that many of the models in other My Crest, My City installments were male, so I decided to go with a female soccer player in LA who has really grown in the sport. She represents the LA culture really well.

What are you hoping people outside of LA will take from your project?

I just hope that people see that soccer is well and alive in Los Angeles and that it's bringing the community together to an even higher extent than many might think. I want people to know that soccer is present, and not only within those dedicated soccer circles. We’ve had a team here for 26 years, but this is only the beginning for Los Angeles.

So we’ve talked about the soccer, the club, and we’ve talked about the city. What do you think of the crest?

I feel like it's more modern. It's simple but very unique in its own way, and you have the ‘LA’ letters well-represented. The wings compliment the letters very well, and I love the color accents that they chose. We’re the golden city. We have the golden sunsets, golden coasts, what more can you say. You can’t go wrong with black and gold.