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Portrait of an Artist: Miguel Pavón ’25

January 31, 2025

Courtesy of Miguel Pavón
ZOOM IN: Miguel Pavón ’25 found a fascination in filmmaking at Bowdoin, and he has followed that passion from Brunswick to Prague to Iceland.

Often found looking through the lens of his large format camera, Miguel Pavón ’25 is following his passion for filmmaking and photography around the world, from Brunswick to Prague to Iceland.

Although Pavón has crafted a prolific portfolio while at Bowdoin, he began with a plan to major in a STEM field and to practice photography only as a hobby. As a first year, he found himself pursuing his passion on a larger scale.

“My first-year writing seminar was on crime film,” Pavón said. “I liked movies at that point, but I didn’t really know about making those per se. So I took that class, really fell in love with it, and then from there I started taking more film classes. The more classes I took, the more I started thinking maybe that [film] production is a thing in the real world. It’s a profession for me; something that interests me.”

Pavón’s creative career reached a turning point when in 2023 he participated in a semester-long off-campus study program at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

“That [program] was actually my first time doing film production of any sort on a professional [level],” Pavón said. “It was kind of a big task, especially because we were shooting on 16 millimeter [film], which is way different from digital. There were moments where it felt a little bit scary going into that. I had to just dive head first into the water, but it was nice to pull through.”

During the program he wrote, produced and co-directed a short film. Pavón immersed himself in film production, tasked with creating a short film in about half the average time production typically takes.

“The biggest thing I got [in Prague] is that film production is a lot of work,” Pavón said. “A lot of effort goes into every production, into every idea. It also involves a lot of people, too, not just one person. It’s really about collaborating a lot with other people, which is something that I also learned over there, because I didn’t really get to do that until I got there.”

Recently Pavón shot a short conceptual film in Iceland. He is currently juggling an array of projects, including a documentary of a boxing gym in Portland. Additionally, he is collaborating with poet Weatherspoon ’25 on their multimedia publishing project, The Black Genius District.

For Weatherspoon, Pavón was the first choice to help with the photography aspect.

“When I talk to him about the project, I can see the excitement on his face,” Weatherspoon said. “That’s always a green flag for me, whenever I’m working with someone, whether or not they care. And I feel like he’s the type of person to take care with the things that he attaches his name to.”

Professor of Cinema Studies Tricia Welsch has worked closely with Pavón since he was a first year, both inside and outside of class, introducing him to opportunities within the Cinema Studies department.

“To encourage somebody like [Pavón] is very, very easy because he takes every opportunity to do the things that you suggest he does,” Welsch said. “Then he comes back and he’s like, ‘I did that, and that was great. Here’s what I learned.’ He’s very open and receptive.”

Welsch has tracked Pavón’s growth as an artist throughout his time at Bowdoin, witnessing his development into an influential face on campus.

“He’s really been a wonderful leader for other students, to see him just quietly pursue his vision,” Welsch said. “He’s always watching, he’s always listening, he’s always learning and he’s always helping other people. There’s nothing I could wish for more for a student than what I see knowing him since his first year.”

While Pavón hasn’t solidified his career plans after graduation, he intends to pursue film and photography beyond Bowdoin, whether on a professional or personal level.

“I hope if an opportunity comes up at a studio, or I get to collaborate with other people and freelance, I’d be more than happy to take that,” Pavón said. “I feel like from there, I’ll see where I can go.”

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