When did you realize that photography was something that you loved?
I have loved photos & photography since I was a little kid, my dad always had a camera. He captured our childhood, and before us, his own trips and adventures. I loved looking at photos from a young age. There was so much life in each one and I could spend a long time taking it all in. I started wanting to take a camera to my own young life events like middle school dances, and would eventually start styling my friends and having mini photo shoots. My dad had a coworker that was a photographer and had his own website- this was the early 2000s so that was fancy lol, and I got to meet him and talk to him. This made me realize that I could be a photographer too, and I kept shooting and exploring! That lead me to the doors of photo school and I haven’t really looked back since ☺.
How did you decide to turn that passion into Stephanie Larsen Photography?
The excitement of capturing a feeling, an emotion, a mood/vibe was what I loved from the beginning. That’s why photo school was so fun- learning how to use your fundamentals to tell the story you wanted to tell and getting to experiment, have fun, and see your progress. I’m so lucky that that passion for creativity and experimentation burns on all of these years later and I still do the same thing for my clients. Also- I love teaching this too! I have been lucky enough to teach my own classes at New England School of Photography - MA & Rocky Mountain School of Photography out in MT! Teaching and having even a small part in emerging photographers education is one of the honors of my life!
You’ve photographed several musicians that have been featured here on Section 36 Music. What is your favorite part about working with musicians?
Yes! I started my photo career working with musicians, and then kind of ventured off into the commercial photography / fashion photography world. It is exciting to be back and doing more of it again, it is totally bringing me back to life and re-inspiring me. There is so much cross over between fashion photography and music photography- it is concept driven, mood driven, lighting driven, styling driven. It is so creative. Musicians are my favorite people to work with. I love listening to their music, soaking it in, talking to them about their ideas, and creatively working towards that together. What magic it is to take an album or a song and create visuals for it! I truly feel honored any time I have the chance to work on that with an artist. It is so much fun and so magical.
Would you say that you have a specific photography style?
I would say creative storyteller! Because deep down that is what I’m doing!
What would you say are your biggest career challenges?
I am a freelancer, so riding the waves of that can be extremely challenging. There are so many factors that determine the flow of work and there’s a lot that is out of your control, like a global pandemic, a shifting industry & technology, earth-shattering and tragic things like losing your mom and intense grief (that happened to me at the beginning of 2022). Trying to find peace and riding the wave is the hardest but most meaningful part of the journey. Knowing when to push, when to pull, when to pivot- phew it is hard. Learning to trust yourself and love yourself in the process can feel impossible. You just have to keep going, whatever that looks like at the moment. That’s the only way!
Do you have any specific career goals?
I have so many, but to name a few of my dreams:
-Shoot for Rolling Stone!!
-Work with Miley Cyrus (she’s first on the list but the list is long lol)
-Go on tour with a musician/band
-Have sponsorship by Polaroid, Profoto, Canon etc!
-Learn how to shoot video and direct- especially music videos!
-Record my songs and keep practicing my craft with music and build community the way I have with photography!
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Those sound like amazing goals!
As always, I want to give huge thanks to Stephanie for doing this interview, and for sending along so many great pictures to be used.
I'm sure that after reading this, you may want to find out even more about Stephanie and everything she has going on. I would definitely suggest checking out her website, and following her on Instagram at her photography account.
And, if you talk to her don’t forget to tell her you saw her on Section 36 Music!
Thanks again Stephanie!
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