We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Chortkoff a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?
I am not too shy about asking friends and family to support what I do. But I have to admit I don’t like to “wear out my welcome” or become what some folks might consider an “opportunist,” that is for sure! For example I will never post my stuff to my friend’s wall without permission! Nobody wants to feel like they are being used as a stepping stone. I also am very careful about “friend farming” which is a practice where people will add you and all your friends just so they can post adds to all those walls! Instead I build rapport and trust with my friends and family. And I never forget to ask them what they are up to and how they are doing! Lastly, I try to involve my friends and family in my process! I just feel there should always be a give and take in friendships, and not just take take take, me me me. Networking should be natural, meaningful, and honest.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Right now I have three main passions and that is my Youtube channel, Tumblr blogs and Blogger blogs..
“Angeleno with a Camera.,” is all about my photography. But I also have a budding production company with my partner in life and art, Rich Riggio, which is called “Chortkoff and Riggio.” My third project is a fledgling non-profit called “Chortkoff Archives.” I work very hard on researching, filming and editing for these 3 main projects.
I entered the entertainment industry when I was in my 20s through my work as an actress and make-up artist. But I was very frustrated as a young actress because my story telling talents were totally limited to what part I could get in someone else’s film! I was happy with my career in mainly horror films, but I wanted more.
One thing I really learned from acting is how to listen and pay attention to my surroundings.
I wanted to experience what it was like behind a camera. I went back to Los Angeles City College and gravitated towards Photography, History, and Anthropology. I guess I wanted to dive into what it means to be a human and what part I play in the story of all of us!
Once I got a camera in my hands I immediately started seeing stories everywhere I went! Pretty soon I was also writing since I needed to take a writing class for school. These two things came together when I got a job as Photojournalist for the school newspaper.
The acting background actually helped me connect with people and made me more sensitive and receptive than some journalists I think!
The great thing about being behind the camera was it actually pulled me out of my shell a little bit! It also sharpened my eyes. I really see things now.
I managed to keep in touch with all the people and sources I used for these first articles and projects I worked on. I still draw on these connections for many stories I am working on now. I really value my sources! And I am very ethical and treat them with respect because I love them and need them.
I won a lot of student awards for my writing and photography, but they don’t really mean much to me. What means the most to me are my stories, which I have collected and continue to work on through the years. I try to pick “evergreen” topics. Stories that “have legs.” For example many stories have a sell by date. They have to be told immediately. This is especially true of news stories.
But I like to pick stories that are timeless and have a quality that will keep those topics relevant. Stories we can all relate to.
Chortkoff Archives I started right after I finished school. This was not a planned project at all! My father died and I got some old boxes of photos that changed my life. One reason I was taking all those Anthropology classes was I was missing something of the human story in my own life. I realized how much when I began to research the identity of the people in the images.
What I realized is all these people who came before us are inside us. Our ancestors, I believe, are us.
It just so happens my dad, his dad, and who knows how many others in my background felt a burning need to document EVERYTHING! And they did! I have a crew of dead journalists bringing me stories of the past. It is almost as good as going back there in a time machine.
So I have have been finding family members ever since I started that journey. This means even more photos, documents, and letters are being found and sent to me all the time. I know the journey my family took to get to the US. I also know my great Aunt Rachel died in Auschwitz because she was the one who stayed behind,. It is distressing to know that, but of course it changes everything.
Some of my biggest fans are people I meet this way. If you post old photos to facebook, you will be surprised how many folks are looking for those photos, and they will be so grateful when you connect with them!
I hope to expand Chortkoff Archives into something bigger someday. Perhaps help everyone discover who they are and where they are from. After all, we are almost all immigrants. some of us have forgotten that. And I know it is painful to not have that foundation under your feet.
I am even more excited about “Chortkoff and Riggio.” My partner and I have a series of videos about our favorite open mics. One of our videos, “Ladies Sing the Blues” had a wonderful premier last year. We see our friends as a sort of family too. Just trying to keep live music alive in our little ways. Especially the blues, which meant so much to my father and myself.
We also have been filming the nature surrounding this city. Los Angeles is different than other cities. Here you can randomly take a walk up a hill a find a quiet island where you can watch the city while you feel a million miles away from it!
My personal projects are all released on my “Angeleno with a Camera” youtube and blogs.
Because my friends and family are so often my film subjects, they watch! You bet they watch! Still, getting 1000 subscribers on Youtube has been a bit tricky.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I am often told don’t mix business with friends and family. Perhaps it’s true but it sure does not apply to my life! Or my ancestors before me! I come from a long line of folks who mix all these elements together and so I have followed the same path.
My favorite filming partner, Rich Riggio, walked up to me randomly one night at a place called “Park Bar” in Burbank, CA. He had a cute little sparkle in his eye and we immediately started to talk about project ideas and began planning some projects right away. That was just our dynamic!
We also fell in love but it was weird, it feels like in someway Rich has always been there. I just had not met him yet.
He just happened to be a member of the new circle of friends I had just entered, I had shot something for my dad’s record label “Delta Groove” shortly before he died and our blues loving friend Vince White invited me out to take pictures at Park Bar! Had it not been for my showing up to take pictures I would have never met Rich. I also would not have had a loving “family” of friends to help me get through my dad’s death. Thank you Vince!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One lesson I learned to unlearn was to not cling so tightly to my “babies.” Meaning my creations. When I started of the newspaper I was watching the editors like a hawk and hated when they changed something or left stuff out. Professor Guess at LACC to me I had to learn to “Let go of my babies.” That is still very very hard for me. But often the editors would see things from a different point of view than I could. And I have to admit they taught me to write and research well. And many times they came up with headlines that were much much better than my original ones. Ego can get in your way sometimes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jessicachortkoff
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessica_chortkoff_photos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicac.brecker/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-chortkoff-67843698/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessicabrecker
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Angelenowithacamera/videos
- Other: patreon.com/Jessicachortkoffphotos https://www.youtube.com/@chortkoffandriggio2018/featured https://www.facebook.com/ChortkoffandRiggio/
Image Credits
Photos by Jessica Chortkoff, Rich Riggio, and the one of me on the bicycle with my dad was taken by Kelly Davis.