Meet Eliza Shabo | Fashion and portrait photographer

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

Hi Eliza, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Freelance work is always unstable, constant ups and downs. Photography is a very competitive business. It’s very easy to take a camera and make content. But it is very difficult to make it high-quality with its own specific memorable style. To make good money on photography, you need to work a lot for free, sometimes even pay for studio rent, the work of a model or makeup artist, or a stylist to improve your portfolio. Working as a freelancer every day you need to send a lot of emails and be ready to be rejected, sometimes it’s morally hard and you want to give up and go to work in the office, but when you get an order from a cool client or your work is published in a magazine, you understand that it was worth it. I changed my country of residence several times and started from scratch, but it only made me stronger and more successful. So I can say with confidence that the one who does not take risks does not drink champagne.

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.
was born and raised in a small town in Ukraine in an ordinary family, my mother is an anesthesiologist and my father is a fireman. I have always been drawn to creativity and I wanted to live in another country. I received a higher economic education, but I believed that my activity would be connected with creativity. A year later, I started photography, I worked in Ukraine and decided to try my hand at a neighboring European country – Poland. At first it was difficult, I didn’t speak Polish, a new language, a new culture, a completely different photography market and different rules. I lived in a beautiful tourist city – Krakow. I moved in 2015 and there were very few photo studios in Poland, and I didn’t like those that were, they were empty without interior and often even without windows. I got the idea to open a photo studio in Krakow, with large windows, bright and beautiful interior. At that time I had no money, but I found a partner who believed in my idea and helped me open a studio. So in 2016, the Milk studio was opened. At the very beginning, it was difficult and scary, because this business was not popular, for people it was something new. But I continued to believe and develop this business, I made many mistakes, I was only 24 years old, but every year the studio got better and better. Now my studio is one of the most famous in the country and the best in Krakow, it cost a lot of effort, time and money. I am very grateful for this experience and open to new projects. You will have a question how did I end up in Los Angeles? I have always dreamed of visiting this country, it is so big and interesting, multinational, first I visited New York, and then I came to LA to see how the city where movies are made and what Hollywood is like. I arrived with a small suitcase, I had tickets back in 2 weeks, But the war broke out in Ukraine and I decided to stay in a safe place. Now I am getting acquainted with the culture and language of this country, I am getting to know many people from my field, models, actresses, photographers. I definitely like this experience, I don’t know what will happen next and where I will be in a year, but I can say for sure that every journey changes and transforms us, develops and fills us. I am extremely happy with this experience, and maybe, who knows, I will do some interesting business project in Los Angeles, because I have such a great experience that I want to share.

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?
My top list:

1. Santa Monica
2. Griffith Observatory
3. Abbot Kinney street
4. Manhattan beach
5. The Broad museum
6. Universal Studio
7. Walt Disney Concert Hall
8. Rodeo drive (I know it is obvious)
9. Sidecar Doughnuts (food)
10. Catch La

I know it is look obvious, but if you want to show LA in 1 week I think this is good options =)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I grew up in an ordinary family, I don’t know where my craving for creativity comes from, but it has always been there since childhood. I liked expressing myself, I just did what I liked. I studied to be an economist, but I knew that I would never become one, I got an education for parents and society, but in my heart I knew that I would create something. I remained devoted to my heart when I decided that I would be a photographer, my father supported me very much and I am grateful to him for that. I believe that support is very important, but even if you find yourself in such a situation when you are alone with your choice, you need to listen to your heart. I believe that if you get paid for what you love, you will never have to “work”

Website: https://elizashabo.com

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

Image Credits
my personal photo was taken by Yulia Krylova