Photo Credit: Emily Kemp
Next on our Inspire Me series, I had the opportunity to speak with Glamour editor Kathryn (Katie) Friedman. This city girl is a photographer and photo editor working straight out of New York City. Getting her start as a freelance photographer, Katie is currently the digital photo editor & photographer at Glamour, where she shoots original fashion, entertainment, and beauty content. She has also worked as photographer and photo editor at Elle Magazine and Elle.com. Her photography has also been featured in Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan.com, Esquire.com, and MarieClaire.com. Her portfolio demonstrates a romantic appreciation for the world around her and a classic understanding of her equipment.
What inspired you to get into photography?
I first realized I had a passion for photography when I studied abroad in Prague my senior year of college. I took a black & white film photography class and used my great grandmother’s old Minolta 35mm and did a lot of experimenting and learning about photography and developing film. I feel in love with photography during this semester, but didn’t pursue it as a career until several years later.
How many years have you been in business? how did you get your start?
I’ve been in the business professionally for about five years. After I graduated from college in Boston I moved to San Francisco and was working in the music industry for an independent record label. I loved this job, but the label went under and I was laid off. After realizing that there weren’t a lot of potential jobs in the music industry that I could transition into (I was working for two international DJ/producers, for their small record label, a pretty niche position), I had to make a quick decision of what to do next.
I think the experience of living in San Francisco and having a community around me of friends who were pursuing their passions as careers- seeing people do this- really gave me the confidence that I could do the same. I knew that I had an eye for photography, and a love for it, but I lacked technical skills. I decided to enroll in night classes at City College of San Francisco and take on a full time job as a nanny. I did this for three years. I loved the family I worked for and they were extremely supportive and encouraging of my photography pursuits. I had an amazing experience at City College- I was able to really learn and build technical skills as a photographer, use studio space and equipment, and work with such a diverse and interesting group of people, all while not putting myself into debt. I shot a lot of personal work over these three years and developed enough momentum to the point that I realize that if I was really going to make photography into a career, I had to move to New York City.
This is where my path ran askew once again. I heard about the new “MPS” program at the School of Visual Arts. It is a one year Master’s in Digital Photography. I applied, was accepted, and picked up my life in SF and started the program in the Fall of 2011. The program was not what I expected it to be, and I was having some major panic over the amount of debt I was about to put myself into over the course of just one year. I reached out to a lot of established, working photographers in NYC and asked them if they’d be open to meeting me for coffee. I expected the photography community in NYC to be somewhat insular and unwelcoming. I was completely wrong. Every single person I reached out to responded and was open to meeting, and each person I talked to gave me advice. After talking to other photographers about my conundrum over the grad program and getting their advice, I made the decision to withdraw from the program at SVA after about two weeks.
At this point I was feeling pretty lost as to what exactly my plan was for making it happen for myself in NYC as a photographer. I started hustling and finding opportunities for myself: photo assisting, small freelance gigs, whatever I could find (even babysitting). Just before I moved to NYC, I had received the news that I was accepted into the Eddie Adams Workshop, a tuition-free photo workshop founded by the late Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Eddie Adams. 100 students are selected to attend each year from all over the world, and the workshop is held every year over a long weekend in Upstate NY. I was unsure what this workshop was all about, I had simply applied because I heard about it through one of my teachers at City College. I attended this workshop in October 2011. It is held by a who’s who of the photo industry. Editors from all major publications are there, all to help mentor you and give you feedback on your work. This experience was pivotal to my career as a photographer because I was able to make so many connections with people who were (and are) instrumental to my career, all in just one short weekend. Also I met so many other photographers among the other 99 students who were in similar shoes as my own, and many of them became invaluable resources to me. In an interesting twist of fate, it turned out that this experience was likely more valuable than the year-long graduate program would have been.
My “team editor” at the workshop was (and still is) a photo editor at the Hearst Corporation. After the workshop she knew I was looking for work, so would send me batches of images to crop and rename for various Hearst brands. I freelanced doing this for several months, and then was asked to freelance for various photo editors when they were out or took vacations. This eventually led to shooting assignments, and to make a long story short…I was offered a full time job as the staff photographer and photo editor at Elle.com. I was on staff at Elle for about a year, and then accepted a job at my current position at Glamour, where I have also been for about a year.
How is it working for Glamour?
It’s a really interesting time to be working in digital media, and in magazines specifically. In the year that I’ve been at Glamour, our web team has nearly doubled in size. So it’s a time of a lot of growth and change, which is exciting and interesting to be part of. Glamour is a great place to be because it’s such a respected and recognized brand, and the things that I have access to shoot are really incredible. I get to shoot for the print magazine as well, which is amazing. There is so much opportunity to do new, cool things with our presence on the web, and I feel pretty lucky to be a part of it.
Does your work reflect you as a person? Can you describe your style?
I think my work does reflect me as a person. So much of my personal work while I was learning was the result of coercing friends and strangers into being my subjects. I also learned a lot by shooting for a startup (at the time) men’s clothing company, called Betabrand, while I was in San Francisco. I used my friends as models, and got a lot of experience directing people who are not that comfortable in front of a camera, to appear comfortable. I think this is reflected in my work now, because I have a knack for quickly putting people at ease, and I think this shows in my photos. Working on the web side of the magazine, my shoots usually have very minimal production. I often show up to a location and have about ten minutes to shoot someone in a space I’ve never been in before, so I have to be really quick on my feet and figure out the best shot, the best light, and how to position someone very quickly. I think this reflects my personality a bit in that I am very decisive about things, visually. If that makes sense!
Can I describe my style- this is tough! I shoot such a range of content- fashion, beauty, portraits, it can be difficult to have a defined style with such a range. But I guess I would say that my style has a lot of color, is very balanced, and is dynamic.
What’s the most challenging part of being in the photography industry?
Being in photography is very challenging. There is so much competition, you have to really work hard and hustle to make a name for yourself and define your style. Sometimes I can’t believe that things actually worked out for me in this industry because it was a real leap of faith. You really have to be determined and believe in yourself. I think my determination was the result of not having a backup plan- sheer desperation to make it work! Desperation can be an amazing driving force! I think the best thing to do is to keep shooting personal work- put yourself out there and shoot things that interest and excite you. You never know what can happen or who you’ll meet. I met my husband because I found out about these crazy underground bike races that happen in NYC (he was racing in one) and decided to show up and shoot one of them.
Network with a community of photographers, find people who are in positions that you want to be in and ask them how they got there. Take a class at night after work to pick up some new skills, make and find opportunities for yourself. Like anything, it’s not always the best photographers who end up making it in a career in photography, it’s the ones who hustle and keep shooting and apply to contests and workshops and try to get their work out there and seen.
BathingOut of all your work which one are you most proud of?
I think I am most proud of the personal project I shot way back in San Francisco as part of a class I was taking in portraiture. It is a series of portraits of people in their bath tubs. This project was such an adventure- I would photograph literally anyone who would allow me to- taking a bath. It was a very labor intensive project because I was hauling around lighting equipment and setting it up in tiny bathrooms. I was interested in this private ritual of bathing, and wanted to take kind of a voyeuristic approach to capturing different people’s bathing rituals. The series turned out much more dark and moody (not reflective of my personality!) than I expected. This series was also part of my application to the Eddie Adams Workshop, so I am proud that it helped me get in!
What’s your favorite part about being in the industry and where do you see your business five years from now?
My favorite part about being in this industry is what a crazy and exciting time it is to be working in magazines. Everything is changing so quickly, we are so rapidly growing our presence as an online brand. I really feel like I am part of something big that is happening in the industry. I am also so lucky to have opportunities every day to shoot cool content- models, celebrities, fashion and beauty stories, and to get to see my work up on a website that has millions of readers is pretty cool.
It’s hard to say where I see myself 5 years from now. As much as I love shooting, I think I would like to be in more of a photo director type of roll 5 years from now. We’ll see!
Have you ever visited or worked in DC? What was your favorite part?
I visit DC all the time! My brother has lived in DC for about 7 or 8 years now, so I go to visit him and always have a blast when I’m there! I love to visit the Portrait Gallery when I’m in DC, and there is so much amazing food, I love checking out new restaurants. I haven’t had any shoots in DC, but I hope to!
Follow Katie on Instagram and see her work on tumblr HERE and HERE!
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