Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ekaterina Erofeeva. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ekaterina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

Friends and family are my main strength in achieving goals that I set for myself in my photography. If it were not for them being there at the very beginning of my photography journey, I’m not sure I could have figured out my passion and style so quickly. They are super supportive!

Ekaterina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in Russia, in the beautiful city of Saint Petersburg. In 2014 my family moved to California. Now me, my husband and our two kids live in San Jose. I have a MA in Psychology, but my passion was always art, in one form or another. So for a little over 10 years I was successfully creating handmade jewelry and presenting it on various exibitions in Russia. I also mastered lots of other skills such as quilting, journaling, scrapbooking etc. I was always taking lots of photos for my business or for family archive, but was way intimidated by a real camera. so I stuck to my phone.
But 2020 made me reconsider a lot of aspects in my life, and I finally decided that I want to learn real photography, figure out the camera, lenses and all the things that used to scare me away. Thats where the support of my family and friends was so crucial. My husband, Aleksei, provided me with a camera right away and was ready to help me with modeling while I was taking classes and working on assignments. Same with my kids and my friends – they were there for me and all my strange ideas.
Eventually I’ve discovered that my knowledge of psychology can really help in this line of work. Talking to my models and clients, making them feel relaxed in front of my camera comes easy and natural. And in some cases I can help my clients reflect on particular periods of their life, providing them with an accepting atmosphere to express themselves in the mood or setup of our photo session.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Since I already had experience in building my audience while being a jewelry designer, I kinda knew what my goal was. I strongly believe that in order to attract people who will appreciate your art you have to be honest with them from the start. Show them what your art is and what inspires you, show them your style. Don’t be afraid to post something complicated or maybe controversial, something out of the box even for you if you feel like it in the moment. Give your audience a chance to peek into you creativity in all its unevenness and depth. Maybe this way will take longer to amass a following, but eventually you’ll be surrounded with a very loyal and supportive people.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would love to believe that it has something to do with my personality, but of course it is important for your present and future clients to know your level of expertise in what you’re doing, to see that you’re putting lots of effort into improving regularly. You have to be professional and polite – deliver what you promise, be on time, respect others needs. All those qualities are mandatory in building your reputation in any field of work there is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ekaterinaerofeeva.com
• Instagram: @why_the_he11_not
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katerina.l.erofeeva
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-erofeeva-018a731b0

Image Credits
All provided photos were made by me.