Today we’d like to introduce you to Elif Karakoc.
Hi Elif, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Istanbul in 1990. I started photography around 12 years old. A sweet hobby then quickly became a lifestyle. My work started with emotional portraiture. I got gifted this little camera and found my mom’s old film camera and didn’t drop them back for quite some time. While I was studying painting in high school, I was skipping classes to take photos of myself and my friends and it all became a different kind of passion that overshadowed everything else. I had the great opportunity to open my first solo exhibition in Finland when 16 years old. My self-portraits and photography got onto book covers and got exhibited in many countries in Europe, the UK, and the US. After getting my BFA in photography in Istanbul, I came to Los Angeles to pursue my career forward.
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 was challenging to leave all familiarities and contacts behind and move out here. Starting fresh, a blank page with a bunch of photographs I carry around everywhere.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love esthetically pleasing, graceful, dark but sweet, and simple but mesmerizing scenes. I love the moment of being stunned when seeing something beautiful, and I want to make people feel that looking at my work. Feeling something not too crazy but that is coming from a depth, like a core memory, a season, or even a smell.
Art history, impressionism, and romanticism era paintings inspire me and I love incorporating some of their elements into my work. I adore humans and faces excite me. All faces are beautiful and unique and it’s an endless exploration of shooting portraiture.
From personal, fine art to editorial work, I love showing moods and emotions. I like to capture those calm and intimate moments within their pure beauty.
I am interested in all kinds of photography from conceptual and still-life to documentary and I love exploring different fields.
Recently, a part of one of my documentary series -I’m hoping to publish as a book – got exhibited by ArtShareLA x Mundaaang Magazine in AngelCity Brewery among many talented photographers based in Los Angeles.
My perspective on this colorful city, the series ‘LA Ordinary’ explores Los Angeles while seeing no humans but only material, contrast, mundane moments, billboards, parking lots, trash cans, and cars in vibrant colors.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I’m a pretty much open person who loves to share, so everybody who knows me probably already knows I love gaming, metal music, motorcycles, roller coasters, decorating cakes, and watching cartoons.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elifkarakoc.us
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/elifsanemkarakoc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElifSanemKarakoc/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jungletalk
Image Credits
Elif Sanem Karakoc
