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

Lexi Athina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I took my first photo class in high school just for fun and didn’t think much of it. I was always creative and knew I was going to do something within the creative industry but didn’t really know what. I loved the beauty industry and began taking product photos which gained some attention from beauty companies. I then decided to major in photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. When I first started college, my focus was on documentary/landscape work. During the end of my senior year at SCAD, I got into studio commercial and fashion photography which is now my niche. I often wonder if I had done more studio photography when I started out, where I would be now with my technical skills, but I think my pacing was good and I’m glad that I tried other styles of photography first.

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?

I recently graduated from SCAD this past June with a BFA in Photography and am currently pursuing a master’s degree in photography. I also work as a content creator for a social media company managing their beauty channels. My photography is now mostly all studio photoshoots working with agency models. I love networking and connecting with other creatives in this field.

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

In every profession there are people who don’t really understand what you do. In the creative world though, it is a very different field which is hard for non-creatives to sometimes understand. There is a lot of competition especially in the photo world. I think with social media being so popular now, it’s hard not to feel that you need to compete with what is shown online. It takes time and determination to grow and become confident in or your own work and style.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I really wish I had read more books pertaining to photography and learned more about the history when I first started out. It wasn’t until I took a photography history class that I really appreciated how hard it used to be to take a photo and how much chemistry/science was involved. I think in this modern age of everything digital we have forgotten the importance of patience and with how tedious film used to be. You had to be very intentional with every single shot and couldn’t take picture after picture like we can now with digital. I believe that to consider yourself a photographer and appreciate the craft, you must learn the history and how to use film even if you don’t like it. Although my work is more commercial, my favorite photographers such as Lewis Hine, Virginia Oldoini Rapallini, Dorothea Lange, William Henry Fox Talbot, Alexander Gardner, and Roger Fenton have inspired me a lot with their techniques and the overall craft.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lexiawaldman.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexiathinaphoto/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexi-a-waldman-246a75215/