Meet Draven Zhao

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

Hi Draven, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I believe that risk-taking is a mutual aspect of our daily life, and we have to take risks every day. As an international artist located in Brooklyn, NY, every decision-making comes with a larger price. Every time when I starting my new project on art, I have to consider the impact in my narrative, especially about my immigrant background. I have to consider the impact of my work and how my work being interpetion by my audience. In art world if I mess one of them up, it will lead to a huge gap of misunderstanding between artist and their audience. In my case, as a person who was not born and raised in this country, that means my career is done. But I still speak the words that I consist committed too, even some of them are controversy. Simply because I believe in spoke for the people unable to speak, tell the story that being ignore is one of the responsibility come with our priviliedge as an artist.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a sensitive person; all the little things in my life always touch me the most. I always see a bigger picture in the minor things that happen around me, and that’s where my project got inspired. I devote a lot of time to researching both internally and externally to translate the feeling I got into a reflection of a larger societal circumstance. That methodology enables my work to resonate with a wide range of audiences through my narrative of the era we all live in, from a grounded, personal perspective.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I will bring them on a short road trip; we start from New York, where I live. I bring them to the SOHO and Downtown to experience the city’s vibe, and at the same time, think about consumerism in a real-life situation. Then we will drive to Nashville, which takes a day. Over there, we will enjoy the whisky straight out of the barrel and hear the story behind it. For lunch, we will eat at a restaurant called The Eagle, which, in my opinion, serves the best fried chicken. After lunch, we will drive another 10 hours and arrive in Dallas the day after. Hang out with our mutual friends there and have Hotching’s BBQ for dinner. Our last destination will be the Grand Canyon, where we will sit on the edge of the cliff, watching the sunset, and drink cheap beer with the $5 grilled chicken from Costco, just like we used to before.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I shout out to the community I had at Pratt Institute for my Master of Fine Arts in Photography class of 2025. Everyone in the program, including the faculty and peers, they are so helpful and open-minded to me as an artist and friend. Enjoying the time we support each other with honest critique and comfort each other’s stresses with our warm hearts.

Website: https://www.dravenzhaophotography.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dravenzhaophoto/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/draven-zhao-1ba25a235/

Image Credits
Draven Zhao