Today we’d like to introduce you to Shell Hofstadter.
Shell, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The start of my photography business has a lot to do with my life long interest in photography.
I started taking photos when I was very young and I urged my parents to buy me a small digital camera when I was 13 years old, so I could record my life anytime I wanted. I just loved capturing anything I thought was wonderful although other people might think they were mundane or not attractive, like the cherries I ate, the wild cats that hung out in my apartment, and all the beautiful flowers that probably meant nothing to most people.
When I was 17 years old, my then boyfriend introduced me this special type of toy film camera called Holga, that could enhance red, yellow and blue. It produced square photos, and I thought that was probably the inspiration for Instagram but I am not sure. I bought a Holga and I started to pictures to record my emotion and feelings. It helped me get through some of the toughest time in my life.
Later on, I bought a Canon 500D when I went to college as a freshman, took a lot of documentary pictures for my classmates and friends and I also joined the photography club and experimented studio shoot.
When I was 22 years old, I decided to come to the US for my master’s degree at BU as if I had the need for a new start, I asked my parents to get me a new camera. Having no idea which camera was the best, I bought a Canon 7D, and it was the camera I have been using until now.
I have always loved taking pictures of people because I love capturing the expressions and emotions of them. These are the things that are unique to human beings. Also, my friends and family have been encouraging me to try it out as a professional photographer, because if I succeed, then good, but if I don’t I am still going to be taking photos. Either way, it would work out. The combination of these two reasons motivated me to start my business in August 2017.
I have done many types of shoot ever since, mainly solo portrait.
This year, I decided to take a break from the business and focused on my art projects.
My two ongoing art projects are The Crying Experience and Little White Dress.
Has it been a smooth road?
It is definitely not easy to balance my photography and my current full-time job. When I started, I barely had much time to spend with my family: my husband. My current goal is not to have a popular business, but rather to find my soul, and establish my photographer self which is a status that had long been waiting but didn’t have the chance to come out. My goal is to become an artist and to show everyone my work and resonate with people who share the same feelings.
To be honest, I often feel lost, but I think it is the most normal feeling as we are living and breathing. And I believe a lot of other young women will face the same issue when they are chasing their dreams. Whenever you are not sure of yourself, just think about your real goals, what do you really want and how are you going to achieve it then do it and leave the rest behind. You can only control yourself but not the other things outside of you, so try your best and acknowledge your hard work. Try again and again until you get tired, if you still haven’t got there, just rest a bit and keep on going. Until you are satisfied with yourself.
We’d love to hear more about Shell Hofstadter Photography.
When I first started the business, I did different kinds of portraits, business, senior, couple and modeling, both outdoor and studio work.
This year, I am focusing on my artist status, so I am doing two projects.
One is called “The Crying Experience”. Every session includes 2 parts, the editorial part, and the crying part. In the editorial part, the model and I would come up with a special makeup concept that represented the model’s spirit and then, we would have a makeup artist create the makeup according to the mood board we set up. I have been working with Najeema Holas-Huggins, she is a talented makeup artist who has amazed me time to time and helped me a lot with my project. In the crying part, I will chat with the model, and talk about anything the model feels emotional about. The process is very organic, I wouldn’t ask the model ahead of time what makes you sad or what makes you emotional unless the model wanted to reveal ahead of time. When the model cries, I would capture the crying. The purpose of the project is to capture both beauty and vulnerability of the same model and help them tell their stories. I write a blog post for each model after all the pictures are edited because most of the time I feel a model doesn’t have a story, and I want to give the model a voice. Also, I love to capture vulnerability since so many happy and beautiful faces are captured, I want to do something different, because I think there is also a beauty in sadness, in vulnerability.
The second project is called “Little White Dress”. It’s comparatively a simpler project, I just take pictures of anyone who’s willing to wear a white dress that embodies them. We would pick a place together that best suits the outfit and everything is very easy because the model is expressing themselves through the dress. A Q&A will follow at the end of the shoot and same with the other project I will write a blog post about them after the shoot. I picked Little White Dress as my subject because little black dress is so famous and it’s already a successful symbol, but I do know that a white dress is great to own as well and again I will tell the stories of these people in white dresses, who are they through their white dresses.
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
In photography, there are a lot of male photographers and female models but not vice versa. There are more and more female photographers but it seems that most of the time female photographers are not acknowledged enough. For example, male photographers are more focused on the gear and technology part of the photography, and sometimes, a good camera does produce a better image if there are two cameras taking the same photos at the same time. But, I think creativity is very important in photography, and I do not see a lot of male photographers excel in that compare with female photographers. I could be biased and too one-sided, however, for whatever reason female photographers are not celebrated or acknowledged enough.
Pricing:
- $100 per hour for a portrait session, 6 retouched photo
- $150 per hour for a couple session, 20 edited photos
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shellhoffoto.com/
- Phone: 617-615-7525
- Email: shell0827hxx@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shellhoffoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shellhoffoto/
Image Credit:
Josephine Marie, Alici Sol, Holly Parker
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