The Pride of Sunny Shokrae

When we first encountered the work of New York-based photographer Sunny Shokrae, we were overwhelmed with a sense of familiarity. It’s as though the people and places existing in her images were ones we too knew intimately and we had been invited along on the vacations and late night adventures she captures.

We spoke with the USCS graduate about the people in her pictures and the way she wants her work to make us feel.

PORTABLE: When and why did you start practicing photography?
I’ve been making pictures since middle school. It was my way of keeping a record of things, the people in my life, how they changed, the places I went, and the subtleties other people didn’t notice. I didn’t start looking at my photography formally or understanding the power photos have in general until much later, at which point I began refining myself technically, around my early twenties. I never stopped taking pictures, and, eventually, it didn’t make sense for me to focus on anything else. I was, and continue to be, totally in love with it.

Do you approach commissioned and personal work differently?
Yes & no. With commissioned work, there’s a client involved, you have to make sure to communicate and collaborate with them clearly and effectively, and in the end you’re making someone else happy first, then yourself. With personal work, you only have you to worry about. These two come together in this—clients hire you based on your personal work, so the idea is that you are making them happy through what it is that you love and do well. That’s why its so important to put work out there that is from the heart rather than work that’s made to look a certain way to land a job.

Who are the people you like to shoot most? What do you look for—psychically and emotionally—in your subjects?
I’m a curious person, it’s endless. People from all backgrounds and all walks of life fascinate me. What makes a shoot fun and breezy (in regards to the subject) is confidence. To a certain extent, as the photographer, it’s my job to make someone feel comfortable and unstoppable, and to get what I want out of them, but when a subject embodies that themselves from the start, well, that just makes the best situation possible. I feel a person out rather than look for something; you have to have a good understanding of people and of yourself. Most of the time you won’t really have much time with someone and you sort of have to feel them out and go from there. With people I know more intimately, that are in my day-to-day life, I shoot them as I see them, as I know them, and with the affection I have for them. With models or subjects less familiar to me, it’s whatever sets them apart physically in most cases, whether it’s a huge gap between their teeth or freckles head to toe. Attitude is really important.

What do you do when you’re not taking pictures?
Archiving, editing, organizing and watering my plants. Even outside of jobs I carry my camera with me just about everywhere, in the midst of doing almost everything. It doesn’t mean I take photos constantly, which is what I used to do, but I like to have it close just in case.

What three words best describe how you want people to feel when they’re looking at your work?
Connected, amused, euphoric

Which of the 7 deadly sins do you think best represents your work?
Going with pride here because I’d like to think showing what people are most proud of and ready to defend is always a good look.

Details

• Art by

  Sunny Shokrae