We were lucky to catch up with Sara S. Wallach recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sara S., thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

I worked for years in hospitality, starting with selling bread at farmers markets for my family’s bakery, to working in coffee shops, to cheesemongering, and at the end of my hospitality career, managing restaurants. It was within the realm of restaurants and hospitality that I learned an invaluable lesson, and it seems pretty mundane when I recount it here, but the impact is profound. The lesson is: to set yourself up for success. In context of the daily operations at a restaurant, being set up for success means to clean and restock your station, preparing it for the next day so that work may begin with ease. Whether that is cleaning the bathroom, sweeping the floor, restocking the bar, folding napkins, or in the back-of-house where the staff are well trained to scrub the kitchen top to bottom. Sometimes, at the end of the night, all of that extra side work feels like a daunting task, and many people would rather just go home. But when you or your coworkers arrive the next day, the place is a mess and nothing is prepared, this begins the work day with a feeling of frustration. By pushing myself to go the extra mile not only for myself, but for my coworkers, I extracted an important lesson about the art of taking care. Even during the times in my life when caring for myself wasn’t really in my consciousness, I learned that caring for others and their experience was hugely important. In that process, I learned to set myself up for success too. Now that I work for myself as a freelance photographer, I’m in a constant dance of learning how to better care for myself and my business. Which tools do I use – which “coworkers” in the form of creative partners, film labs, cameras, softwares, etc. do I choose? Who will set me up best to do the job I need to do with the most ease and feeling of support?

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?

My work as a commercial photographer started four years ago, when my friend Leah – a visual artist-turned-chef – was hosting supper clubs at her house, an old church in rural New York. She had heard that I studied photography, and at the time I was languishing in my practice. I had exhibited a few fine art photography shows, and always took pictures, but I hadn’t been making work seriously for a little while. Leah asked if I would be willing to photograph the event at her house. I didn’t necessarily feel qualified, but I was more than happy to do it. That evening, with the church bathed in a warm, pink glow from the neon sign in her living room, and her guests filled to the brim with Leah’s stunning vegetarian food and hospitality, I was able to capture the evening in its colorful glory. After that, Leah asked me to come photograph many more of her dinners, and as her business grew and she offered more pop-ups and catered events, partnering with museums and arts organizations, my business and photograph practice also flourished. I started to take on my own clients, mostly within food and hospitality, but was approached by a number of artists as well. I would visit them in their studios and take their portraits. Now, my approach has widened to include all manner of events, including weddings. My focus is generally still on hospitality and the art of taking care, which can be found in almost any circumstance. I love to work with passionate, creative people who have a vision for themselves and the world. My work is made mainly with film, and I enjoy making images that feel like feasting my eyes, and the eyes of the viewers. I want my work to feel tangible, a heightened version of reality. I’ll use direct flash, which always lends itself to feeling exciting, sometimes stark. I’m always seeking more, and am happiest in a state of high arousal, which is, incidentally, why weddings are so fun for me, too. My work could be described as slightly hedonistic, but I always use a soft, feminine touch.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission now is to feel free in my life, and to inspire others to feel the same. I love working for myself for this reason. The ability to choose my clients, where I will go, and what I will do has changed the game for me. I have compromised for much of my life, and in this season, the goal is not to compromise, but to choose alignment. I most enjoy working with clients who feel similarly and are working on their own visions, entrepreneurs with an artistic eye, people who are offering a beautiful or impactful experience, who want to invite others into their world. I want everyone to feel fulfilled and satisfied in their purpose, not to feel trapped and disheartened by the prospect of going to work. This mission is not meant to serve capitalism, but a sense of camaraderie and fellowship between humans. My work is just a small but lovely piece of that puzzle. I’m here to see you, and to help you visually express yourself.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Having lived abroad for years, I have found myself in a few situations where I was uncomfortable and lacked the language or emotional tools to handle what was happening. One such occasion was during the summer of 2014 when my boyfriend’s father dropped dead in the street of a heart attack. They lived in Greece on a small island, where I was staying for the summer. In a whirlwind, funeral arrangements were made, and we were whisked off on the ferry, then drove north by car to his parents’ homeland of Albania. Upon this first heartbreaking introduction to the Balkans, I set off on a research frenzy, learning everything I could about the country and the region at large, some of it through books, and some of it through oral history. I learned of the incredible struggles, wars, and occupations that had been endured there. I miraculously had film with me, and was able to document the journey on my camera, an old Pentax given to me by my half-brother at the age of 16 or 17. Somehow, in the most trying situations, I have always managed to connect with a place and its history through photography, and develop curiosity about the world around me, even if my first instinct has been to judge or push it away. My interest at the time was particularly trained on ruins (conceptually and figuratively), but also leftovers – small pieces of evidence of what has happened, or who has been here. Photography has always been the way I connect with the world, especially when I feel most alien, and/or the convenience of language is not an option.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarawallach.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saraswallach

Image Credits

All photos by Sara S. Wallach