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

Alright, Mariah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I was raised by a woman with a strong wild & entrepreneurial spirit who has championed me literally every step of my journey. As a child, any interest I had, she facilitated. Horse back riding? Done. Acoustic guitar lessons? Done. Small business selling natural dog treats to the neighbors? No problem. Even as a single parent running her own private bodywork business she made sure I had the means to explore my interests and passions which lead me to photography.

It’s been a long, tumultuous journey to the abundant and successful space I am in now and I owe it to her undying support. As an adult in my industry, I acknowledge the privilege I have by having a parent support me wholeheartedly and I never take that for granted.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a full time freelance photographer specializing in portraiture and content creation, currently developing a bi-coastal network between Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. I also capture event coverage for major organizations and manage a team of contractors providing event coverage for high end clients in the DMV area.

I started as a written journalist in highschool and moved to Washington DC in 2012 to study photojournalism at the Corcoran School of Art + Design at George Washington where I graduated in 2016.

After graduation, I began professionally assisting photographers in different fields such as architecture, portraiture, and interiors. By working with a variety of personalities, I picked and chose which techniques I wanted (or not) to adopt into my own practice while learning many technical skills of being on professional production sets of all sizes.

When I went full time freelance in 2017, I was working predominantly with musicians and performers, dance specifically. I spent the next few years providing event coverage for a variety of personal clients (dance parties, dinners, happy hours, etc) and eventually found myself working for high level repeat clients such as Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood, and Google. In the 2020 lockdown, however, I lost 95% of my clients due to the unsafe nature of in person gatherings and realized I wanted to shift to commercial work.

This gave me the space to develop my studio skills, and I began to conduct test shoots of product photography and studio headshots, which has lead me to where I am today.

I have spent the last 3 years developing my skills to become a one stop shop for my clients, helping my clients avoid the hassle of having to hire multiple people when organizations need a variety of imagery. Need a headshot of your leadership team and an interior capture of your office space? I can do it. Need updated content of your new restaurants menu and lifestyle content of individuals in the space and then event coverage of the big opening party? I got you.

In this process I’ve also entered the commercial sphere and have captured multiple national photo campaigns for companies like Naturalizer shoe brand and non-profit org Human Rights Campaign.

I feel immensely grateful to work with clients who are equally as passionate as me about environmental justice, LGBTIA+ rights, anti-racism, and are dedicated to obtaining compassionate, fun, and diverse content.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The first several years of my freelance career were littered with incidents of sexual harassment, racist behavior, micro aggressions about my disability as a hard of hearing person or a brown woman. It wasn’t until I became more financially secure, felt more comfortable speaking my truth, and saying no to red flag situations that I started to understand the weight that all of those situations had on me.

I would consistently reach out to colleague for support and realized that they didn’t have the same minority status as me so much of their guidance didn’t apply or was lacking in awareness of said differences.

It’s because of these experiences that I feel guided to what is now my long term goal of running a women of color media house focusing on providing jobs with educational structure in a supportive environment. Individuals will learn technicalities about the industry, helping them navigate through a variety of barriers in my white male dominated field, while simultaneously developing their skills like they would in a college environment and eventually go out into their own practice.

This is my overall endgoal for my career and it informs all decisions I made in my current day with my work.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It is both a challenge and deeply rewarding process to create my own work schedule and be paid for my life’s purpose. I would do this work even if money wasn’t a thing, so to making a living off what makes me feel alive and engaged is truly a gift I will always cherish.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mariahmiranda.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariahmirandaphoto/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariah-miranda-300497126/

Image Credits
Mariah Miranda