Meet Victoria Lee & Jeffrey Kwok | Owners of Portrait Space

We had the good fortune of connecting with Victoria Lee & Jeffrey Kwok and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Victoria Lee & Jeffrey Kwok, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Hi there! We’re Victoria Lee and Jeffrey Kwok, the owners at Portrait Space (https://www.theportraitspace.com/), located at 110 W. Green St. Pasadena, CA. We are a self-portrait photo studio and event space, and offer a unique experience where you provide the creativity, and we provide the rest. You take the photos yourself by looking at a live-view of yourself on a monitor and a wireless remote that triggers the camera. After, you take home studio-quality photos that are ready to share, immediately.

While we’re not professional photographers, we realized we both shared a love for capturing happy memories through photography. During our travels together, we would always jump at the chance when we saw a photobooth somewhere to get photo prints. We’ve also hired some amazing photographers to capture us in Osaka, Joshua Tree, and Downtown Los Angeles. When we don’t have either of those, our phones are great for when we want to capture selfies, but we couldn’t help but wonder if there was an easier way to get studio-quality shots.

What should our readers know about your business?
Portrait Space was born as a result of all of our experiences with different ways to capture memories. We wanted to provide a comfortable environment for clients to achieve professional portraits, but at a price-point between a photo booth and a professional photographer. While we believe both types of photography still have their place in the industry, we wanted to offer an experience that meets the needs of professionals looking for headshots, a fun date idea for couples of all ages, family and pet portraits, and people who want the flexibility to be creative in their photoshoot.

Essentially, we have all the professional lighting, backdrops, camera, and equipment set up at our studio. All you have to do is position yourself in front of the camera, look at yourself in a live-view monitor, pose, and click on a wireless remote that triggers the camera to take your photo. That’s it!

During your photo session, you have the entire space to yourself, and can customize your own props and outfit changes for different looks. Some clients have said this is “perfect for introverts” and “much less pressure” compared to posing for traditional photography. It’s also ideal for pets or kids, who have felt very comfortable in the space and less nervous about taking photos!

Our lighting set up is key – it makes everyone look their best. We offer retouching services, but find that most clients are happy with the immediate results of their portraits. We provide you your digital files on the spot, and print you a 4×6 print per person with each package.

And finally, while planning for our own wedding next year, we loved the idea of an event space that includes the photo station for your guests. In addition to photo sessions, Portrait Space can also be rented out to accommodate up to ~40 people for baby showers, birthday parties, pop-ups and more. With the venue rental, you get access to the photo station and all the digital files from your event will be sent to you. Instead of having the added costs of both a venue and a photographer separately, we wanted to make it easy to host your event with us. We have tables and chairs, a Bose sound system, large floor to ceiling windows for natural light, WiFi, a kitchenette, bar table and stools, mini-fridge, coffee machine, and ultimately a great location for easy access on the street level of beautiful Green St. in Pasadena.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Pasadena has so much to offer for visitors! As foodies ourselves, we love getting a pastry at Delight Pastry, coffee at Blue Bottle, breakfast burritos at Lucky Boy, lunch at Osawa Shabu Shabu and Sushi, and dinner at Dos Besos, Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery, Fishwives, or Chim! Thai Street Food. Just walking around Old Town is a treat. We love dessert at Salt & Straw, Pie Hole or drinks at The Cellar: A Wine Library and 10 ¼ (both unique speakeasys). And for late night eats, there are several taco trucks that are definitely worth the wait for!

For activities, Vroman’s Bookstore and the Norton Simon Museum are great local spots. Or a short drive can be a fun day of shopping at The Americana at Brand in Glendale. And with the newly opened regional connector line of the Metro, it’s easy to hop on at Del Mar station to get to Downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District for even more fun.

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?
We couldn’t have made Portrait Space a reality without the help of all the photography and lighting knowledge from my father Louis Lee, and Troy Chiu, David T.W. Yu, Joy Sungting Yang of Light&Shadow Pictures Inc. They are amazing at what they do, and were able to best set up the lights, cameras, backdrops, and equipment to maximize our space. Please check them out here: https://lightshadowpictures.com/

Website: https://www.theportraitspace.com/

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/portraitspace

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/portrait-space-pasadena

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@portraitspacela