Sophia Carey
19th April 2021
INTRODUCTION
Sophia Carey is a freelance photographer and designer currently based in both London and Manchester, working predominantly in portraiture and fashion. She graduated from the University of Salford with a first-class degree in Graphic Design in 2020.
She’s been creating content on YouTube for the past three years and has accumulated over 8k subscribers and 250k views in that time.
Some of her recent clients include: VOXI by Vodafone, Creative Debuts, Panasonic, Made.com and Jaz Karis.
What does a day in your life look like right now?
At the moment, it really varies from day-to-day. Some days, it consists of answering emails, editing photos and sorting through other admin or planning tasks. Other days, it consists of travelling from shoot to shoot. It’s a strange job to have, in that sense, but it’s also one of my favourite things about my job.
© Sophia Carey
How did you go from a part-time ice cream parlour job to working for VOXI? Can you tell us the story of landing your first client?
Starting to land my first clients was, thankfully, a pretty organic process for me. It was mostly through word of mouth that I first started booking photoshoots: a friend of a friend or someone who I’d met at an event, who later needed photos. Instagram also played a massive part in being accessible to clients and getting my work out in front of people, including how I ended up working with VOXI for their launch.
Aside from the technical skills, what personality traits do you think make for a great photographer?
As a photographer, you definitely have to try and be as well rounded as possible. From being able to hold a conversation with strangers, to good email etiquette, I think you need to be willing to slip into a business role as easy as you can slip into a more personable role.
© Sophia Carey
Despite knowing early on in your design degree that you didn’t want to be a designer, what made you stick it out until the end?
There were a few things that prompted me to stick it out with uni, and one of those things was the opportunity that it was giving me to build my business. From a financial point of view, even though my student loan didn’t cover all of my living expenses, it covered enough to allow me the privilege of being able to focus on building my business and making my money through my photography. If I hadn’t had that financial safety net, having to go back to part-time employment would have probably made it a lot more difficult to grow my business at the rate I was able to.
How did you juggle running your own business whilst at university?
I think it’s really important to try and prioritise. For me, trying to set myself days to focus on uni or specific modules versus days to focus on my business worked for me, most of the time. Of course, there are many times where the two things have to overlap, but generally trying to separate your time can make things a lot easier.
I would say that I probably didn’t have the healthiest work/life balance whilst I was at uni, especially towards the end of my second year and in my third year. I think it’s important to remember to put your health first and that rest is equally as productive as continuous work. That’s something that I wish I had taken more of a note of but something I didn’t really learn until recently.
“I think it’s important to remember that rest is equally as productive as continuous work.”
© Sophia Carey
Was it an easy decision after uni to stay in Manchester?
I think so! I did consider moving back home but it’s easy enough to get back to London when and as I need to, and I just spent three years building my business in Manchester. I think Manchester is an amazing city with an equally as amazing creative scene and I consider it a blessing to get to live and work here. The ease in which you can travel and work around the country from here, too, is definitely a selling point. Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, London, etc - they’re all accessible from Manchester.
Having found your love for photography at gigs and events, shooting local musicians and building your network this way, do you have any top tips for a great DM / invitation to collaborate?
I always found that, if the opportunity to approach someone in person wasn’t available or seemed too daunting, sending a message to people involved in an event after it is a great way to introduce yourself. If you have a photo that they are in then you can use that as a pretty seamless introduction, but a simple “hey, I saw you at the event last night and would love to work with you sometime!” can equally go a long way.
© Sophia Carey
What made you take the leap to start creating content on YouTube?
The decision to start creating on YouTube was one that involved a lot of different influences. For me, it was a great way to not only document my progress as an artist, especially when I was trying new skills such as film photography, and rely on the help of the community to help me to advance, but it was also a great way to tap into the audience of photographers that already followed me on social media.
From a business point of view, you usually intend your followers to be potential clients, but I’d gotten into the situation where most of my followers across Instagram and Twitter were fellow photographers. Starting YouTube allowed me to utilise that audience to my advantage, as well as being able to throw together pieces that would hopefully also help out beginner photographers.
© Sophia Carey
As a self-taught photographer, do you ever suffer from imposter syndrome? If so, how do you handle this?
I definitely suffer from imposter syndrome. I think that it’s often a common occurrence when you love what you do, too, because it doesn’t always feel like work and so you start to doubt if you’re “doing it right”. Something that I’ve found that helps me to set my mind back on track is to remember that photography, and all art forms, is really about how you see the world and that’s so unique to everyone’s perspective. There’s not a right way or a wrong way to do that, and there certainly isn’t a better way to do it.
“Photography, is really about how you see the world and that’s so unique to everyone’s perspective. There’s not a right way or a wrong way to do that, and there certainly isn’t a better way to do it.”
© Sophia Carey
Who’s a great up and coming photographer everyone should keep an eye on?
There are so many amazing photographers that are coming up at the moment, especially in the UK, but one of my favourite photographers at the moment, who’s doing absolutely amazing, is Toni McCoy-Hopwood. Also Manchester-based, she works a lot on film and her recent projects have just been amazing!
Recommended reading
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight
Recommended listening
At the moment, anything Brent Faiyaz or Loyle Carner
Recommended follow
Follow Sophia
If you’d like to reach out to Sophia, drop her a DM on Instagram or an email to: sophiacarey.sc@gmail.com
