Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Shapow.
Hi Victoria, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small town in Michigan with under 1000 people in it, so I always dreamed of getting out and moving to LA. After getting an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design, I moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College for a degree in Commercial Photography. I worked as a freelance designer and photographer all throughout college to help me through school. Once I realized that I still loved design and photography equally, I added a double major of Art Direction to my Commercial Photography degree. My goal was to be a Photo Art Director one day.
After graduating and working at a few ad agencies in Chicago, I realized that the kind of work I wanted to be doing wasn’t in the Midwest. In 2017, I applied to a random Graphic Design position in LA with a prominent fitness Youtuber, and a few weeks later I moved to LA to start working with them. I learned a lot and gained a lot of opportunities from working as a designer and photographer in the YouTube and influencer space. I tried to reach out to as many people as I could to collaborate on shoots and take advantage of the fact that I was in an area surrounded by talent.
One of the connections I made was with a new female-focused podcast network, Dear Media, that had just launched in 2018. After doing freelance design work with them for a couple years, I started designing custom merch for their podcasters. Since I’m a photographer as well, I also started photographing the talent in the merch that I designed. I think doing a lot of that over the past couple years really made me realize my love for shooting lifestyle photography. I also love being able to design something tangible and then photographing someone wearing it.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of my main struggles has always been trying to balance my Photography and Art Direction career. I’ve often had a full-time job in Art Direction or Design and have to do my freelance Photography work on nights and weekends. It’s something I’ve always done, but it’s really easy to get burnt out by doing that. That’s something that I still struggle with today.
Another obstacle was having to change what I was shooting during covid. Like many photographers during that time, I had to switch from portrait and lifestyle photography to shooting product out of my spare bedroom. It was a really fun challenge and something that I got much better at over the last couple years, but I missed photographing people during that time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a Commercial Photographer and Art Director. My work is very colorful, bright, and I love to let the authentic personalities of my subjects come through my images. My favorite kind of work is when I can art direct everything from the beginning and create the vision, then make the project come to life by photographing it. An example of that is when I got to concept, photograph, and design the cover art for Jackie Schimmel’s new podcast “Mind, Body, No Soul”. I think my art direction background is a strength and something that sets me apart from other photographers.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Most of the clients that I’ve gained over the years have been from cold emailing and continuing to follow-up. I’ve always reached out to brands and people that I admired to see if I could help them with photography or design. You usually won’t get a response, but sometimes you do, and those relationships can last for years. Another helpful networking strategy has been to work in ad agencies as an Art Director, then once I’m there, offer my photography services for their clients. Working at an ad agency for a while can be really helpful for photographers to make connections with multiple art directors and creative directors in the industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.victoriashapow.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriashapowphoto
Image Credits
Katie Maloney
Tom Schwartz
Jackie Schimmel
Lilly Singh
Hannah Cranston
Blue Lolan
Lucie Doughty
