Meet Evelyn Sanchez | Portrait Photographer

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

Hi Evelyn, how do you think about risk?
Growing up I don’t think I was much of a risk taker, sometimes til this day I will doubt something because I get scared. One of the biggest risks I have taken so far in my life is moving across the country alone (with my partner). I left Los Angeles and came to New York City not knowing anything or anyone here. There was moments when I thought what if this doesn’t work out? Today I look at this big move as the best thing I’ve done. Moving across the country has helped my business and me as a person. I’ve been able to grow my career in ways I don’t think I would have if I did not take a risk.

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.
I am a Mexican female portrait photographer from Palmdale, CA who is now in NYC. I have been into photography for as long as I could remember, when I was a kid I would love to edit photos for fun. My friends would send me their photos to edit or sometimes I would just save random photos I saw online and edit those as well. My dad is the type of dad who supports us (my siblings and I) in any hobby or interest we had. When I wanted to learn to play the violin he let me, I wanted to learn to DJ so he got me my own board and speakers, I wanted to learn photography he got me my first DSLR. I was about 15 when I got my camera and ever since I have stuck with photography. After high school I went to community college in my hometown, I got my A.A in Commercial Photography. Through out those years I did have doubts if I should make a career out of taking photos. I did have interest in being in an engineering field or something in tech as well. Luckily the people around me believed in my skills and supported me to get to where I am now. Even though I do not think I am at my peak point I feel like I am on my journey to be bigger and better than the photographer I was [yesterday and today]. I am always looking to learn new techniques and skills to better myself as an artist, I most definitely have learned a lot along the way. I’ve learned that most of the time it’s about the people you know to get your work recognised by the “right” people. Sometimes I look at photos of famous celebs and models and think I could’ve took that photos because I share the same skills and style but I don’t know anyone who could get me out there to bigger clients. Some things I am most excited about in my career is how fast I was able to transition in a new city and meet people in my field. Meaning if I was able to accomplish these small milestones in a year I can’t wait to see where I will be in two to five years from now.

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?
Living in NYC there is so much to do here, I’ve been here a year and still feel overwhelmed at how much there is here. If my best friend was visiting for the week I’d try my best to make it a chill but adventurous trip! Since I am still a bit new here I don’t have a lot of spots but that would just mean her and I would have to explore the city together. I would forsure go to Brooklyn to eat some pizza at Ace’s Pizza. That has been one of my favourite spots to grab pizza plus it has a vintage look inside which makes it even better. In that area there is a lot of shops and thrifts, we would go shopping after lunch. If my best friend was visiting during this time of the year (Fall) we would make a day trip to Sleepy Hollow an hour outside the city. I’d make sure to bring our cameras and enjoy a day of taking photos of the beautiful scenery Sleepy Hollow has to offer. Some other things we would do in the city is visit museums like the Whitney or the MOMA, we love museum dates so that would be a #1. Some food we would grab would be in Chinatown, id show her my favourite spot where we would grab some mochi donuts and some scallion pancakes. A fun girls night out to us would probably be going to a bar in Brooklyn or going out to dance at the Brooklyn mirage.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to thank my family, close friends and boyfriend for where I am today. Each and one of them helped me be the artist I am. I am lucky to have such supportive people in my life who were willing to pitch in help whenever I needed someone for a project!

Website: evelynsan.com

Instagram: instagram.com/e.vesan