October 22, 2016

Meet Santa Monica Portrait Photographer: Qi Wong

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Qi Wong.

Qi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve always enjoyed drawing but was discouraged at a young age. Even though becoming a professional artist never seemed to be an option, it’s always been a part of my life. Around my early 20s I picked up a camera and my assistant at the time taught me all the basics about my camera and I went from there. I then left corporate and went back to school about 5 years ago to study photography and graphic design. Meanwhile, I interned for a few talented fashion and beauty photographers. Got published as a beauty refocused. One day one of my mentor’s suggested that I try weddings because of my style of photography. I did and fell in love with it and never looked back.

Has it been a smooth road?
It’ been very challenging. One of the major ones is to give up financial security, in the beginning, to pursue something that I was taught will not “put bread on the table”. It was a huge decision to quit my corporate job and transition into a professional artist. It’s scary in any way you can imagine. Not knowing whether I really have what it takes, maybe I don’t have talent, after all, maybe my parents were always right, Etc etc..

The first year was especially hard when I had no clients. I had nothing but my husband’s encouragement and faith without any proof that I’d make it.

How would you describe the type of kid you were growing up?
I was an only child growing up. I was very close to my parents and since we moved a lot, they were the only constant “friends” I had in my life. I spent a lot of time at my dad’s company watching him running his business. I was also his temp translator at a very young age. I loved new people. It always got me excited. Because of lack of peers in my life, I read and drew a lot. My father always emphasized the importance of imagination but didn’t believe the importance of emotion, which is strange. I was pretty much wild and not lady like at all, my mom struggled with that.

What is your favorite childhood memory?
Going on evening walks with my dad, driving around the town after a long working day with him, first time visiting Greece on the new years eve of 2000. Overall childhood was rough.

So, what should we be on the lookout for, what’s next in store for you?
Whenever people ask me this question, I always feel obligated to give them a concrete answer, like maybe planning on having a child, getting my business to the next level, finding out who I really am as an artist. They all are part of the changes, but to me, they are just a stepping stone to that something I am still waiting for. I think I’ll call it “a return to me”.

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