Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Shen.
Hi Sarah, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m a first-generation Chinese American born and raised in Los Angeles. I lived in Alabama for a couple of years during high school and then returned to Los Angeles for school and have been here since.
I’ve always loved the art of photography, but being a photographer was not always the plan. It always seemed like an unattainable dream growing up because I only really knew of traditional career paths – my entire immediate family works in medicine. I attended the University of Southern California as a Business major and was interning at different media agencies and fashion companies during my time in school. Between classes, extracurriculars, and work, I’d produce photoshoots as a creative outlet. In my junior year, I began assisting at a photo agency and started understanding more about the world of freelancing. By the time I graduated in 2019, I had begun working as a freelancer creating social media imagery for brands.
I now have a couple of years of freelance experience and shoot fashion, beauty, and product photography. In June 2022, I photographed a cover for L’Officiel Philippines. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with brands such as Urban Decay Cosmetics, Pura Vida Bracelets, The Skinny Confidential, and more.
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?
There have been struggles and learning experiences throughout the way, but the start of the pandemic was the most difficult challenge to handle. I had been freelancing for less than a year before the pandemic hit, so the timing was difficult, considering my career was just beginning. Shoots that were planned were immediately canceled, and all of my in-person work paused indefinitely. During this time, I transitioned to shooting primarily product photography – brands would deliver products to me and I would photograph it remotely from my home studio. To supplement my workload, I picked up a part-time retouching role too because everything was so unpredictable at the time. As time went on, we’ve been able to work more safely in person, and I’m so grateful for that!
Being the first in my family to choose a less conventional career path, I felt a lot of pressure. There was a lot of pressure to pursue a career in medicine, so the conversations with family about being a photographer were difficult. Thankfully, the amount of work I did while I was still a student helped set me up for a relatively smooth beginning moving into freelance work, and I had a lot of help along the way from others in my journey. It took some time for them to come around to the unconventional career choice, but I think now my family gets pretty excited when I tell them about the projects that I work on.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer who primarily shoots fashion, beauty, and products. Product photography is where most of my client work is – I’ll style products and photograph them for social media and website content. I also shoot UGC content on iPhone for brands (videos and photos). I also have experience producing photoshoots and creative directing projects with teams. Fashion and beauty photography is what I’m most passionate about because I love having freedom when creating with other artists. I’m most proud of the projects that I create with my friends and the way that we challenge each other to learn new things and be better versions of ourselves.
I think what sets me apart is the fact that I haven’t really picked a niche and have a broad range of professional photography experience. I’m adaptable across different clients’ needs and the variety helps keep things constantly interesting.
Any big plans?
At the moment, I don’t have concrete future developments unfolding and am mostly taking things day-by-day. Since the pandemic, I’ve felt like there is very little I have actual control over and that so much of the freelance journey tends to come and go.
I have some general career goals I’d like to achieve someday, such as being signed to a photo agency, shooting billboards, and traveling to photograph fashion month, but at the moment I’m focusing on a smaller level of doing the work and honing in on my practice to pave the pathway for those goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahshenphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahshenphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahshenphoto
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahshenphoto
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahshenphoto
Image Credits
Kimberly Nieves, Ghost Artistry, Marjorie Lightford, Chelsea Lozano, Leatrice Yoshie Hein, Emily Arakawa, Sevahna de Leon, Aria Dimalanta, Simone Pierce, Salena Solis, Rupal Banerjee, Syndi Solis
