Meet Sophia Alvarado | Portrait Photographer

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

Hi Sophia, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I got into photography by being inspired by the photos in magazines and the media growing up. I thought it was cool to see the how the visual language and point of view are shown and interpreted through the eyes of the artist, and the viewer in photography. I was fascinated in all types of photography but my interest gravitated towards fashion and portrait photography. I’ve always really enjoyed shooting nature and started out by shooting flowers up close. I learned working with film, black and white and darkroom in high school with a 35mm camera and went on to own a 120mm film camera. I was gifted a digital camera and I experimented with it more when I started to network with models online, and gradually tested with modeling agencies which gave me more opportunities to grow my portfolio. Because I started young, money was not something that motivated me at first, but a fun way of meeting and working with people. When I had more of a reputation, I could contact new models or people i’ve shot with in the past and we’d just shoot something for the sake of creating, without much planning or clear idea, and captured what felt authentic. To me it seems that there was less pressure 10 years ago to have to create elaborate shoots, and the bar was lower than it is now it terms of what agencies and brands expect. The visual language has evolved so much over the years too which has been cool to see, but a bit tough to stay relevant, which means a lot more creators have had to be to keep up with the times and shoot consistently. Despite there being so many different styles of shooting, I do believe that there is a place for each artist in this field, and the work will land with whoever it resonates too. Even if my career didn’t turn out the way I had imagined it, I still look back and feel good about my past accomplishments, as well as making people feel good when they like their photos.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My photography consist of a mixture of portrait with elements of fashion, my approach has always been minimal, not highly conceptual, but aiming to shoot my subjects in their best light. I like to convey an emotion, or a mood in my images. I haven’t really shot anything for my fashion work for along time, but what’s kept my feeling stagnant was making a personal connection with my photography. As much as a value cool fashion imagery, I felt like I had to figure out my purpose in photography again. With this has come many challenges, because while I did have this figured out, it has been since after graduating art school, on how to move forward on production value, and evolving my style, and becoming a working photographer. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do something different, and that ended up just making me overthink too much, and not create. Not only the comparisons on social media but, feeling fearful of taking risks, and not feeling confident enough as an artist. I do feel like my feelings have shifted on photography from when I started at 16, now being 34, the way I approach shooting, or who, the choices I make and how I look at imagery. I still very much enjoy viewing photography, and taking pictures, but It feels like i’m still finding my place in the photo world, as there are so many incredible photographers making work right now. I’m hopeful once I start taking the time to put together test shoots, that I’ll find my vision and flow again. I feel like i’m in a much better place to know what that is, knowing what it takes to make it happen. It’s all a learning journey with self, and I hope that my story will resonate with others who have felt themselves in a similar position. I’m still excited about the possibilities that can still happen, sometimes the hardest part is just getting started, and the rest will build and become what it’s meant to, and learn. And if there are readers on here who are familiar with my work, and have supported me throughout the years, I just want to say THANK YOU, and I hope you will stay tuned.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The great thing about L.A is that there are so many great restaurants, and sights to see, things to do, etc. I usually like to recommend places based on quality, and popularity, or even new up and coming places. But first, I’d recommend things based on what their interest were, or what I think they’d like. But generally, I’d say they have to go check out the Malibu beaches, or nature around there. Then i’d say to go check out on of the Museums in Downtown L.A, then go eat at the grand central market. And also Little Tokyo, and Korea town for a cultural expirence. Then I would recommend walking around The Huntington Library, and then to go eat in Pasadena. There are also other cool cities to check out such as Silver lake, Highland Park, West Hollywood, and there’s also a lot to check out in those areas, that are some of my favorites in this City. Some of my note worthy restaurants include Villa tacos, Joy, Nicks, Houstons, Ggiata, Salt and Olive, Portos , to name a few!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A person that comes to mind for me would be my photo professor Ken Merfeld, who was a really supportive teacher for me at my time at Art Center. Ken really knows how to push people out of their comfort zone, and for me, his teaching framework and critique helped me shoot some of my best work. His perspective was a truthful and direct, and had a great eye. And another big support system for me has been my family, both my uncle, grandma, and mom who made going to Art Center College Of Design possible, and believed in me.

Website: https://www.tumblr.com/digitalsophia

Instagram: Sophiaaphoto

Twitter: Digitalsophia