Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon K0.
Hi Sharon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Born and raised in Turkey and having traveled to different places around the world growing up, I was always drawn to getting to know people and preserving stories. Though there was constant change around me, photography allowed me to have an open heart, be present, and cherish those fleeting moments. In university, I studied Art and English, with a focus on black and white film photography. In the darkroom, I found myself come alive. The mystery, room for imperfection, and tangibility of hand-developing and printing film photography cultivated in me a deeper understanding of my inner world and the world around me.
After I graduated, some people reached out and asked me to document their weddings. I absolutely fell in love with it—the unique love stories, the chaos, the anticipation, the sacredness, the once-in-a-lifetime adrenaline of it all. I saw all my passions come together: my love for people, preserving memories, travel, collaboration, and creative entrepreneurship. Since then, I have been invited to witness and document the most incredible love stories across California and the United States. Using both film and digital photography, I want to expand the boundaries of wedding documentation and continually seek creativity and nuance as I work on my craft.
I am so grateful for the gift of storytelling. I pinch myself sometimes, amazed that I get to tell stories for a living! July marks two years since I took the bold step of officially running my photography business, and I am so excited to see where this journey takes me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road.
My whole life, I have seen myself as an artist first. Someone free to dream, create, and think outside the box. However, with pursuing photography, I have had to buckle down and learn the nitty gritty of owning and running a business. I had to shift my mindset: I am an artist and a CEO. I can be a badass creative and at the same time, I can keep track of my finances, communicate with clients, and do marketing like a queen!
Moreover, I initially took pride in the flexibility and independence this job offered. As time went on however, I yearned for healthy rhythms and more rooted community alongside the adventure of travel and unconventional lifestyle. Hence, every day I remind myself that this passion and creative work is a gift from God, and I want to steward this gift well.
Though I feel isolated at times, I truly am not alone in this. My fiance Erik has been a huge encouragement and support for me, as well as my community here in Santa Barbara and around the world. Creative passions cannot be cultivated alone, and I am learning to ask for help, to say no, and to preserve time for my own people and memories.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I would say that I am an interdisciplinary artist, fusing painting, printmaking, music, photography, and poetry.
But photography is my first love. Through film and digital photography, I document stories and the real, in-between moments of human connection. At the moment, I am primarily focused on wedding and elopement photography, where I get to meet amazing couples and capture their love in a documentary and artistic way. I’ve had people say that my photography brings them back to the emotions, atmosphere, and magic of the moment, and that makes me so delighted. I love that each wedding I photograph feels different than the others, for each couple is so unique and their weddings each have a special place in my heart.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Filling your creative well. Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” talks about how we need to feed our inner artists, cherish them, and not quench them on a daily basis. For me, that looks like quality time with the people I love, hiking and surfing and being in nature, and not letting my accomplishments define who I am. I want to create from a place of abundance and gratitude, instead of worry and discontentment. I feel like my best work comes from that place where I create authentically. And I believe that people will continue to notice that magical spark that only I can offer them.
Contact Info:
- Website: sharonsevgiko.com
- Instagram: sharonko_photo
Image Credits
All images by Sharon Sevgi Ko
