Tina Jo | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tina Jo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tina, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
I think the habits of consistently looking at other people’s work has been really helpful in terms of developing my career. It helped me to understand the trend, learn new ideas that I can execute to my own, giving me the desire to photograph more, and make better work. It is like having supporters around you to push harder.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m not sure if this is what sets me apart from other creatives but I love challenges. Working with different clients can be extremely challenging because every client wants a different style of image, and my job is to execute their ideas and needs. Sometimes it’s hard to communicate and come to an understanding or hard to execute the exact way they want it. However, I try my best and try out different things to give more options to the client and when they actually like one of the options, and we decide to go forward with that — it’s the most satisfying feeling ever. Over time, I learn more and more that communication is the key. If I can’t execute the way they want it, I have to let them know and be honest about it. The least I can say is “I can try my best.” Even though clients are paying me for the service, I want to have an honest discussion with them and let them know if I can’t do certain things. I think being honest is the key rather than bragging and lying something that’s out of your control and having to apologize it for it later.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would show my friend my home first for sure! I’m a huge game nerd (as one of my clients is also a game company,) I own game consoles and have it set up to play with multiple people in my living room and it’s such a fun way to spend time with friends and family that doesn’t cost any money. I actually don’t go out too often so I don’t know much about a “cool spot” but I would like to show them around my favorite art galleries — such as Blum and Poe, Huntington library, Hauser&Wirth. Food wise, I want to show them some good korean restaurants around Ktown since that’s where I live and my culture is embedded.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely my family. From my teenage dream to become a photographer to current and even till these days, my family has been the biggest support of my work and journey. There has been a lot of obstacles along the way but they have always believed in me. Their trust gave me the strength to keep going without stopping.