A Los Angeles native, Rony Armas is a self-taught photographer who has pursued art, design, and videography as related fields. Rony began with an interest in documenting the world around him and soon discovered, through the influence of many wonderful people, that his interest could be furthered as an artistic and commercial medium. The need to tell a story or evoke a feeling has been the driving force behind his work and is demonstrated in the diversity of his work, from editorial to music to fine art photography. He is motivated by collaborations and inspired by other artists and their art forms. As a practicing professional, Mr. Armas has worked as an independent contractor in photography for over 20 years, in graphic design for 15 years, in art direction for ten years, and in film/video for ten years.
Co-Founder and Art Director of Lunaset Studio and Design, his mission was to restore the influence of fine art in commercial art. Lunaset was a multimedia design agency that served business ventures, community projects, educational institutions, and other artists. The agency also offered marketing consultations, as requested. Lunaset was dissolved in the winter of 2008, leaving Rony free to pursue a more creative freelance career.
A few of Rony’s most notable clients include world-famous female percussionist and 2025 Grammy® winner, Sheila E.; pop singer and star of Dexter: Original Sin, Christina Milian; North Hollywood’s longest-running street arts fair, NoHo Scene; global talent search, World Championship of Performing Arts; Muay Thai Promoters, Stand Up Promotions; and legendary Latin Jazz percussionist and Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree, Pete Escovedo.
As a photographer/cinematographer, Rony has worked on many award-winning independent films and documentaries. The latest being an Oscar-nominated, hard-hitting documentary on survivors of human trafficking called Surviving Sex Trafficking. This film was directed by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree and Sadhvi Anubhuti, and produced by Alyssa Milano, Jeannie Mai from the daytime talk show ‘The Real’, and record producer, Jeezy.
As a result of Rony’s decades-long diverse experience in Hollywood as an artist, photographer, and cinematographer, he has partnered with the Los Angeles Tribune, Los Angeles’ oldest and longest-running newspaper, as a Director of Photography for their new film division that will be producing uplifting, inspiring, and empowering documentary films to help elevate and transform audiences. One such film, titled Pillars of Power, will feature notable experts such as Dr. Joe Vitale, Marie Diamond, John Assaraf, Lisa Nichols, and Dr. Rev. Michael Beckwith, all of whom are original cast members from the 2006 groundbreaking film The Secret.
Throughout his career, Rony has consistently advocated for the arts as a means of healing and uplifting communities, speaking at various city councils and representing local artists and art initiatives. He also served on the board of the Mid- Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council, was Vice President of Community Development for the Universal City North Hollywood Jaycees, and was an esteemed member of the Universal City North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Through his extensive volunteer community work, he has received many certificates of recognition from such recognizable community leaders as Richard Alarcon, California Senator of the 4th District (who had proudly displayed an Armas original photograph mounted in our state's Capitol building in Sacramento), and Los Angeles City Council Members Wendy Greuel and Tom LaBonge, and most recently a Citation of Excellence from the Los Angeles Tribune CEO, Mo Rock, and Editor-in-Chief Ava V. Manuel.
In 2017, Rony joined Mt. San Jacinto College in the Inland Empire as a graphic artist designing assets for internal promotions and external marketing and advertising. In 2020, he was unanimously elected Classified Senate President, representing staff on non-union issues such as participatory governance and reporting at monthly Board of Trustees meetings; he was reelected in the fall of 2022. As a result of his advocacy, he was elected Vice-President of CSEA Union Chapter 767 and vigorously represented the interests of the Classified labor force in negotiations and at conferences. He also served as marketing officer for the LatinX Indigenous Alliance affinity group, co-advisor for the student club M.E.Ch.A., and a Puente mentor. He has also won many awards for his graphic design work at Mt. San Jacinto Community College from the Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO).
Our Stories are Ancient, an ongoing portrait series premised on reconnecting us to our indigenous past, has been exhibited in NoHo Gallery L.A. in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood, in the Riverside County Administration Center as part of the Riverside Arts Council’s Artscape Spring/Summer Group Show, was featured as part of a multimedia presentation of Indigenous Culture during the Palm Springs International Dance Festival at the Nickerson-Rossi Dance Studio in Palm Springs, as a solo show where all nine of the ever-growing series were exhibited in the Mt. San Jacinto Art Gallery in San Jacinto, as the featured artist at the Cal State San Bernardino Latino Education & Advocacy Days (LEAD) Summit XIV, as the featured photographer at The Source by Dancing Earth, Group Show and Community Festival, San Jacinto, and as a solo cultural exhibit on site at the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino. Some notable faces in the series include Latin jazz legend Pete Escovedo, Hollywood executive producer Moctesuma Esparza, and poet laureate and prolific author Luis J. Rodriguez. All three are legends in the Chicano movement and pioneers in the music, publishing, and entertainment industries.
Rony has been published in the anthology Resilient A.F., Volume 2, and has been featured on many podcasts about art and entrepreneurship.
Rony’s most immediate goal is to continue participating in larger collaborations to bring art to communities while expanding his knowledge and skill set to, in turn, help others achieve their life goals.
