We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful AnnAnn Puttithanasorn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with AnnAnn below.

AnnAnn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I was always a creative kid growing up and I naturally gravitated towards different arts mediums from drawing, painting, and sculpture, to now photography. I had been shooting photography since high school but at the time I was too scared to try to learn manual so I was only shooting on auto. It was actually during Covid-19 when I had some time on my hands that I stumbled across a bunch of YouTube videos talking about photography and I quickly grasped on how aperture, ISO, and shutter speed worked. From there, I just kept shooting as much as I could. It has been two and a half years since then. I generally shoot about 3-4 times a week, either with weddings, portrait sessions or personal projects. I was about halfway in my undergrad when I got back into photography so I wasn’t shooting too much during the semester but I would try to pick up shooting at any opportunity I could to just practice. This medium is very much about trial and error.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a full-time fashion, portrait, and wedding photographer based in New York City. I graduated with my undergraduate degree in music performance in December 2022 and went full-time into photography as of May 2023. Throughout school, I was running my photography business on the side – it was actually my avenue to pay my way through college. I absolutely love the opportunity to create and be able to share my art with others. As a 22-year-old, there is so much that I’m still learning and discovering about myself but photography has truly opened up doors for me in places I never could have imagined.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

This is something I’ve faced pretty often. I actually come from a family that is not in the creative field at all, and everyone initially wanted me to go to school and major in business, nursing, accounting — something that was more in the typical route for a career. For me, it was never about the money. Yes, you need to make enough money to survive but for me I also wanted to follow a path doing something that I love and was fulfilling for me. The money will come if you put the work in. I am very fortunate that my work does not feel like work. I may be working all seven days of the week and at odd hours, but I truly love and enjoy what I do. There is a lot of fear from the outside about pursuing a career in the arts because there is that stereotype of the “starving artist” but what lit a light bulb for me was talking to others in the field and their experiences. There is so much you can do with your abilities and its about finding the balance between the kind of work you create for your source of income and also continuing to make work for yourself to keep improving and prevent yourself from being burned out.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is such an interesting space but what I’ve learned is that it’s a great networking tool. You do not need to have the most followers to succeed, you just need to have a strong portfolio and to keep expanding your network of people you know. I actually use Instagram in the way that other career paths may use LinkedIn. I cold message people all the time to connect. I also strategically use hashtags associated to my niche.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.annannputtithanasorn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annannputtithanasorn/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annannputtithanasorn/

Image Credits
Photography: AnnAnn Puttithanasorn