October 22, 2016

Meet Echo Park Photographer: Natasha Wilson

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha Wilson.

Natasha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2011, I graduated from photography school feeling pretty lost. I understood that I loved photography and had a passion for it, but I didn’t understand how to jump from student to a high fashion photographer like I thought I wanted to be. I traveled around for a while, immersed myself in different cultures and climates, and eventually moved to Los Angeles in January of this year.

My roommate Cole convinced me to start an Instagram account to display my work and cultivate an audience. I started posting images from my portfolio daily and to my surprise, I saw a quick response. I jumped to about 5,000 followers after just a few months.

During this time, I was working at a furniture company, daydreaming about being a freelance photographer. In June I decided to take a leap of faith and put my two weeks in to pursue my dream. The last day at the office I had butterflies in my stomach about what the future held for me, and if I was going to be able to “make it” by being my own boss. I almost ran back to tell them I changed my mind and I needed to stay. In the middle of my thoughts, a direct message from Instagram popped up on my phone, congratulating me for becoming a Suggested User. At first, I actually had to hold in my scream of excitement so I wouldn’t scare my colleagues in the office. Suddenly I was getting hundreds of followers per minute, and my account ended up with around 50,000 new followers. Because of that exposure, I was booked solid with freelance jobs every day for the next month. Freelance, of course, has it’s ups and downs. But I’ve never been happier – and things have been super steady since I left my 9-5, which every day I’m grateful for.

Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing has been a smooth road up to this point, but the path I took has made me super grateful for where I am today! I’ve worked every type of photography job you could name: food, pets, family, yearbook, senior portraits, events, etc. and I learned something from each one of them.

I’ve written over 100 emails to different agencies in hopes of getting signed and received one response. Which is my favorite response ever from a prestigious London based art agency. The director responded to my well thought out but precise email about wanting to be with their agency by replying: “Hi Natasha, We’re good.”

If I took everyone’s opinion literally, I would not be standing where I am today.

What’s your outlook for the industry over the next 5-10 years?
I think the photography and video world are drastically changing every day. It will be really interesting to see where we are at in 5-10 years. I have no idea what new technology will be around by that time but I am guessing we will be working a lot more with virtual reality, 360 technology, moving photographs etc. Anything to make the viewer feel more immersed in the artist’s work.

What has been the primary challenge you’ve faced?
My biggest challenge was figuring out how to make photography my career. When I graduated from college, I thought to be successful, I had to wait for somebody to discover me. I was never good at marketing so I worked hard on my art but never tried to push it out into the world further than the eyes of my friends on Facebook.

Once I realized I was the one who had to market myself and push myself out there, things started flowing. One of my best friends, Cole, was actually the one to give me the push and told me to post my photos on Instagram. I thought I was too late in the game to even start but he persisted. I have to thank him a million times over for that one because now I have a platform where I can share my work with an audience of over 60,000 people every day with the click of a button.

The biggest lesson I’ve realized is that I was the only person holding myself back. I was the one creating every excuse in the book not to be successful. Once I broke that fear, things seemed so much easier!

What would you tell someone who is just starting out?
My advice for photographers just starting out is to work with as many talented individuals as you possibly can. I found models and makeup artists through Instagram, walked into vintage stores and asked if I could pull their clothes for shoots, went up to old body shops and asked if I could take photos in their classic cars, etc.

Drive around to find locations that inspire you, join other photographers on their shoots to learn what their flow is, etc. Options are limitless in Los Angeles.

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