LYNWOOD, Calif. — If you've been around the Santa Monica Pier lately, you may have spotted Marcio Sanchez.

"This is one of my favorite spots because it's a very active area," Sanchez said.  

Sanchez is a staff photographer with the Associated Press. Lately, he's been focusing his lens on the area to document coronavirus restrictions and mask mandates. 

"I'm going to try to capture that scene over there," he said.

Sanchez, born in Honduras, was inspired to become a photojournalist by one of his teachers at Lynwood High School. He has been on a roll ever since. 

"I have a deep respect and love for what I do," Sanchez said. 

Recently, he's been working overtime, exposing the impact of the pandemic, the economic lockdown and the Black Lives Matters protests.

"I just felt the historic importance of the moment and saw it through," he said.

In July 2020, the Associated Press sent him to cover the violent protests in Portland, and the federal agents sent in to quell them. 

"The environment was very hostile, rubber bullets, tear gas… I remember having a real sense of sadness about what the state of America was," Sanchez said. 

And that's where it happened, where he took the Pulitzer Prize-winning image.

"The image sort of conveyed what the feeling of the night was," he said.

Sanchez is the first Honduran to win the Pulitzer Prize. Latinos are underrepresented in his industry. Only 8% of people working in newspapers, periodicals, and the like are Latino, according to a 2019 report by the Government Accountability Office. 

Sanchez's work was highlighted at the bi-monthly Art Talk series event hosted by California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

"I think what's important during Hispanic Heritage Month is to shine a light on the incredible talent that exists within the Latino community, to inspire future Latino artists, not just during Latino Heritage Month but year-round," Rendon said.

The Art Talks take place in Paramount, just a few miles from Sanchez's old high school.

"For me, it's a coming home kind of situation to the place where I first learned to love photography," Sanchez said.

And that's what he hopes his prize will do. 

"There is a strong need to have more Latino photojournalists and Latino journalists in media. If I can be a tool of inspiration for someone sitting in a classroom that wants to pursue this career, I think that would be the ultimate goal for me."