Meet Ingrid Sanchez | Director of Photography

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

Hi Ingrid, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think risk taking has had a huge impact in my career and life. I also think that risk taking is a calculated decision that is based off of what your end goal is v.s current limitations, and generally it takes a lot of self confidence and street smarts. Risk taking brings you to places you never thought you’d be, but also sometimes feels like the exact right spot to be.

When I knew I wanted to be an artist, I decided art school was the way to go for me, but also that I needed to be financially responsible. After being accepted into my dream school, but without any scholarship, I took the risk to go to community college in hopes to apply again and get scholarships. Not only did I succeed in my goal of going to art school for cheap, I got an invaluable experience from community college and a local art academy that opened my ideas of what interested me.

Later, I fell in love with a Dutch man, and took the risk to move to Amsterdam after only 6 months of knowing him. Not only did I learn about a new culture and way of life, I had fun and worked my way into the lighting department of the film industry there. I met mentors that cared about my success and I got to work on a large variety of types of productions. To this day, my experiences in Europe are something producers and directors find to be a valuable asset to my work.

Lastly, during the beginning of COVID, my friends and I made a feature film in a bubble, living in the same place that we shot, shooting 7+ pages a day, with a cast and crew of 10 people. What might seem like a recipe for disaster, turned out to be an amazing experience that pushed our creative minds and utilized so many different tools in my toolbox that I thought I had lost.

All to say, the risks I have taken for career and for personal reasons have allowed me to free up my idea of success, live more in the moment, and experience things I never thought I could afford or even imagine myself in. Especially now as a freelance cinematographer and creator, I am not afraid to say no to jobs that are only going to give a paycheck, and I have confidence that as long as I have an end goal in mind and morals that I stand by, my decisions can be based off creative and personal reasons. I try to keep in mind that I am here to work hard and have fun doing it.

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 work as a director of photography in the narrative and documentary spaces, but I am an artist and jack of all trades at heart. I’ve always been an extremely passionate learner, and sometimes I wish I could go back to art school for 5 more years just to take multiple classes in each major. In efforts to hone my passion to have a career, I realized light and shadow has always been a through line in whatever creative endeavor I was focused on, from photography to life drawing, stop motion animation, graphic design and painting. When I was younger I was told that being a jack of all trades was a negative thing, and no one would want to hire me, but since then, I think my experiences and passion is what sets me apart from others. My knowledge in the various mediums have influenced my work as a cinematographer and make me a better creative problem solver and team player.
I also realized cinematography was a prefect career choice for me because of my love for working with people, traveling to new places, and my natural leadership instincts.
I’ve learned that every experience I have, teaches me something about myself, and that my emotions and feelings are valid, and should be taken into account for my next action. Different experiences make one uniquely themselves, so why not be open; the worst that can happen is you fail, and that’s fine too. I say this after years of unnecessary stress that I have put on myself, many sleepless nights and reality checkpoints, but also years of meeting and learning from supportive people in my life. I also find structure and chaos to be a perfect combination because you probably aren’t going to get what you think your going to get, but it might be much, much better.
I’m proud of myself that I am equally in love and terrified with what I do, and that I have put myself in a job that I get to creatively work with talented people, tell beautiful stories and have fun doing it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, some might say LA in a concrete jungle, but I will politely disagree. First up, rent a bike in Santa Monica. Depending of the exercise you want, bike all the way to Good Stuff in Hermosa Beach for brunch, or just bike to Flake in Venice beach. Obviously swim in the ocean, but also walk down Abbott Kinney in Venice, get some hard kombucha on Main Street in Santa Monica, and just enjoy the palm trees and ocean air. Maybe next day, go to a hike in Temescal canyon, and then have lunch at Reel Inn Malibu. If you are a lover of Korean food, and like the west side, go to Seoul Tofu, or get in the car and explore Koreatown. I’m obviously a person who loves food, so generally the food takes me to new places. For Thai, Torung in Little Thai Town, and then maybe see a show at the Hollywood Bowl, for Ethiopian, Raphael’s in Little Ethiopia, and then check out the LACMA or the Broad.
Anyway, too many things to list: sorryyyy.

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?
Oh wow! So many shoutouts to give! Shoutout to my mom and sisters for the crazy love and support through it all. Shoutout to Daan de Boer, gaffer, who taught me so much about lighting, but also how to be an amazing, loving team player. Shoutout to all the directors and crew members who have trusted in me and keep me learning! Shoutout to John Gray from Moorpark College who took me aside and said, “You’re going to be a photographer.”

Website: Www.Ingrid-sanchez.com

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