South LA 7.24.2017

Lily Tapia

My love for photography started out when I was a child. Coming to the United States from Mexico my family and me had to leave everything that meant the world to us to start a new life in America, with only two clothing items we ventured out to find new opportunities for my family. From there I knew the value a photograph possesses, we don’t own any photos of us growing up and I my parents don’t have a single image of their wedding. In high school, I was introduced to art and photography after that I became obsessed with film and learning more about artist from Diane Arbus to Van Gogh. I started exploring downtown LA with my camera and I would photograph anything that captured my attention. Read more>>

Jess Young

Life is all about moments, and capturing them has been a passion and pastime of mine. Jess Young Images evolved at a time of change in my professional life. It never occurred to me to make it a business until I came at a crossroads and was confronted with this simple question: “If you could do anything to make a living, what would you choose?” All it took was for me to hear it out loud, and the feeling of excitement and fear sparked courage inside me, and I went full speed ahead. I spent my first six to nine months photographing for free just about anything that came my way — sporting events, birthday parties, family portrait, corporate events, you name it. Read more>>

Rhona Brown Walker

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I am the youngest of 5 and the only girl. I grew up in a house with all men after my mother passed away when I was a teenager. My mother always told me to follow my dreams and that’s where the journey started! I taught myself to braid at 9 years old and by 10 I had a clientele of doctors, lawyers, police officers, teachers, you name it! When people were referred to me, no one could believe that it was a child doing hair. Back in the day, my price was only $10. I’ve always had a passion for doing hair and I decided once I got into high school I would attend cosmetology school to become a licensed professional. Read more>>

Stevi Dowells

I worked corporate America from the age of 18 until I was 33. At age 33, I began feeling unhappy in my career. I picked up a college catalog to look and see what I could do besides the Administrative duties I was doing. I saw cosmetology. Since I was unhappy with my hairstylist at the time, I inquired. I decided to do hair! Everyone laughed because I went to college at USC. “Do hair?” Everyone knew that I couldn’t do anything with my own and depended on someone else to keep me “Corporate ready.” Nonetheless I quit my job and signed up. I wasn’t great at hair but excellent with customer service! After being teased by a salon owner, I decided I was going to be the best. I began to use all of what I learned in corporate America in my hair business. Read more>>

Jay Jong

I started out as a camera operator. I mainly shot people and I especially focused on capturing their emotions. Capturing emotions plays a vital role in storytelling because emotions and conflicts that derive from these emotions are the hallmark of storytelling. “No conflict, No story” (Mark Batterson) Observing these human emotions through lenses is very fascinating. Ultimately, a good film must satisfy the viewer. Whether it’d be emption, sadness or happiness, it needs to move the hearts of the viewers and make them reach into their mind. It should make viewers think. But at the same time, it mustn’t be boring. Read more>>

Julie O’Neill

I used to live overseas with my husband and I loved capturing the beauty of all the countries we visited. When we moved back to the US I took that love of photography and started using it to photograph my newborn son. Soon people began to ask me to take photos of their kids, families, and celebrations. What began as a hobby blossomed into a business. Within a year, I had great group of regular clients and I was photographing everything from maternity sessions, newborns, family sessions, birthday parties and baptisms. I wanted to stretch myself and I was really drawn to the story-telling aspect of photographing weddings. Read more>>

Jaime Barba

Photography has always been a passion. I moved to Lake Tahoe when I was 17 years old and was absolutely mesmerized by its beauty. I picked up a camera shortly after and started documenting its unreal sunrises/sunsets and every scenic shot in between. As an avid snowboarder, I loved to capture the sport but quickly realized how much competition there was in the industry. I worked at a local photography shop in Tahoe City for almost 5 years. I spent hours developing film for local artist’s and grew to love and appreciate a photojournalist approach. Then finally I had the opportunity to photograph one of my best friend’s pregnancy journeys from start to finish and absolutely fell in love with my accidental results. Read more>>

Greg Harada

I have worked in the corporate environment for the past 17 years, but my passion has always been in entrepreneurship. I never felt it was enough to just trade my time for money, but having a steady job has kept me afloat, so I am grateful for that. I have always had a side business that usually takes up most of my free time outside of my day job. The goal has been to build the side business into the main business and I am still working on that. I started small on eBay, selling Nike shoe laces that I bought in bulk to build up feedback. Then that stemmed into my first real business called Lacedup Authentics, selling Nike shoes that I would source from authorized dealers and stores. Read more>>