We recently connected with Sherlinda Alteme and have shared our conversation below.

Sherlinda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I worked on had to be a shoot I curated with two of my friends, I made them dress the same way and it was on the beach. The reason why this project was so meaningful to me is that being a Floridian the beach has always been my safe space, I would go there to reflect, cry and even celebrate. It’s a comfortable place in a sense and I wanted the project to represent that for me. In the photo, both girls are holding one another on top of a rock that’s in the ocean and they’re staring directly at the camera and the background is nothing but sky. I wanted to represent how I felt coming to the beach throughout my childhood. My head was always in the sky and I felt hugged by the waves.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, My name is Sherlinda(@shurlinda) and I’m a film photographer, and creater and just overall exist within the realm of loving to create. I started doing film photography during my sophomore year of high school. I was never the type that liked being in front of the camera but still wanted to let off my creativity in a way so I loved creating behind the camera and having the way I view things come to life in photos. I got into the industry by making authentic connections and letting my work speak for itself without feeling the need to make it a full-time business in a sense. I will always see film photography as a hobby because I don’t want the business to let my love for it get lost in the mix. The way I approach a client is as if we are doing a collaboration, I want to make sure they’re comfortable and they have an immense amount of input on the direction they want their shoot to go in while also adding my creativity to it. I’m most proud of the fact that I still even get clients even though I don’t shoot as often I still appreciate those that contact me still and want to work with me. The main thing I want my potential clients to know is I do this because I love it and not because of the pay. When I first started I was making nothing from my shoots and spent thousands of dollars on processing film because I love the end result. Overall I feel that if you love creating give yourself time to do it, don’t pressure yourself because you’ll grow to resent it.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience on social media through making connections at art events and going up to people and taking their photos and asking them to follow me on Instagram to send to them. I think just being a nice person gets you far and helps you build your social media while also producing content that resonates with yourself authentically so it attracts others with the same mindset. The only advice I have for those who want to start building their social media presence is to post consistently and go to art events and go up to random people and take photos of them because they will follow you and share your stuff with other people.

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

I think the goal of have something to look back on when I get older and show my kids that I didn’t shy away from creating just because I went to college or had a full-time job. It’s possible to create and still have other main priorities you just have to be patient with yourself and understand that creating is something you will be able to do whenever you feel not to please others.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shurlinda/