Today we’d like to introduce you to Keira Wight.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always had an interest in photography and digital media. As a kid, I took countless disposable cameras on vacations, class trips, and scrapbooking electives. Eventually, I landed the role of Editor in Chief of my junior high and high school yearbooks and realized that photography was something I wanted to pursue more seriously. I began studying film and television production and joined technical theatre, where I photographed theatre productions from the booth while calling the shows as stage manager. At that point, I knew I was meant to live a creative life.
I studied locally at Loyola Marymount University, earning a B.A. in English Literature with a focus on Journalism and worked as a photographer for the university. I was fortunate to cover concerts on campus with artists like 3LAU, Smallpools, Cash Cash, and Bastille and freelanced with different organizations including the Santa Monica Business Association and Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. I felt like I’d made it when I landed a gig shooting the opening of a Pandora Jewelry store, and then again when I got to shoot an influencer event for Lincoln Motor Company – twice.
After graduation, I worked at Glendale Arts, a local nonprofit organizing community events while producing the inaugural Open Arts & Music Festival where I got to shoot artists like MNDSGN and Sudan Archives at the historic Alex Theatre. There, I also covered book talks and performances by John and Hank Green, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Ballet.
In 2017, I moved back to work at my high school in Pasadena – in some ways, a slower pace of work, but hardly less chaotic. While my primary duties as webmaster were site maintenance and communications, I spent much of my time designing, photographing campus events, and working on the school’s rebrand with Innovation Protocol, an LA-based design firm. I loved it. Because of this rebranding experience, I decided I wanted to pursue brand design – but there were some gaps in my education.
I went back to school at Otis College of Art and Design, picked up a design assistant job at an e-commerce company in Venice Beach, and started shooting with the Outlook Newspapers as a staff photographer. My freelancing hit an all-time (albeit chaotic) high when I landed gigs with the Ford Theatres, Ellenwood-EP, STEAM:Coders, and even became a last-minute second shooter for the Ad Age Small Agency Awards.
And then the pandemic hit.
My photography gigs were all canned, classes moved to the proverbial Zoom lecture hall, and I joined the ranks of millions of locked-down Americans twiddling their thumbs waiting to breathe outside again. When that didn’t happen, by May I realized I needed to pivot. While still in school, I joined the few staff members in-office at the paper as their new legal publication specialist, learning everything I could about public notices from reading the California Code of Civil Procedure and seeking guidance from generous (and patient) industry professionals.
Two and a half years later, I’ve built a one-woman system with her own section in five newspapers across the foothills communities. All while, of course, I was designing and photographing every chance I got, keeping myself open to any opportunities to grow as an artist. Last year, I even found myself helping produce a short film written and directed by Austin Kase, working on script development, fundraising, behind-the-scenes media, and pre-and-post-production consulting (be sure to check out Hide Your Crazy later this year!).
Phew! No lie, it’s been a whirlwind. I’ve worked long, weird hours and like many artists, some of it has been merely “for the exposure.” But I don’t regret any of it. My growing network of contacts has blessed me with ample opportunities to expand the depth and breadth of my work. Every day, I look for chances to push myself artistically while supporting creative endeavors that benefit myself and other communities around me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every creative person hits bumps in the road as they learn how to navigate industry standards, networking, and self-promotion. It can be even more challenging to gain appropriate recognition and respect as a young, petite, woman of color. I know I’m not alone in this journey though, and I look to creatives who have worked tirelessly to break through these barriers for more diversity in all creative fields to help me navigate my own path to success.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I became a photographer first and a designer second, but I don’t see one discipline taking precedence over the other. I learned that the beauty of multidisciplinary studies doesn’t lie in its breadth across subjects to widely teach, but rather, the knowledge of other disciplines better informs me how to create my work. I love getting at the heart of things: the WHY of our beliefs and HOW they inform our actions. In being able to capture that feeling through a photograph or design, I’m able to help make a positive impact.
Technically speaking, I work with minimal gear and am used to going into a gig with lots of unknown factors. I’m stable in chaos and I keep my focus. My photography is crisp and precise, and I always aim to capture the feeling of an event in a matter of shots. My colors remain realistic and vibrant, true to the mood of the event and the artists that created that setting.
I’m best known for my performing arts photography. Having photographed over ten years’ worth of theatre and dance productions, I’m able to anticipate movement and moments of dynamic action on stage. There’s this feeling a photographer gets when they get that shot – the shot that explains, most thoroughly, the emotion of the moment, or as William Wordsworth coined, a “spot in time.” And I love getting those spots.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Two things, actually. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that “Your education is what you make of it.” Everything we learn, wherever we may learn it, contributes to a deep and diverse tool kit that we can draw from down the road. I never imagined that the summers I spent flipping houses with my family would prepare me for technical theatre, nor that scrapbooking would lead to design, or that a love of disposable cameras would give me the opportunity to work as a professional photographer in one of the greatest cities on Earth.
Secondly, take that shot. Being open to new opportunities is one of the best things a creative can do for themselves. I’ve redesigned a lookbook in a day, stepped up as a replacement photographer, pitched ideas as the newest person in the room, and embarked on producing a film with little prior experience. It’s so worth it.
Pricing:
- Couple and Family sessions $300 – $400 (LA-based)
- Portrait sessions $200
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keirawight.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krphotography.la/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KRPhotography.LA/
Image Credits
Zedd at Zedd in the Park, 2018; Jason Cruz of Strung Out album release party at the Regent, 2018; LA Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, 2016; Senator Elizabeth Warren at the Alex Theatre, 2017; Hamilton Leithauser at the Open Arts & Music Festival, 2019; John and Hank Green at the Alex Theatre, 2017; Into the Woods production at La Salle College Preparatory, 2018; Hide Your Crazy, 2021
