A Student’s Point of View: An Interview with Alum Kristen Francis
The next alumni I am excited to introduce is Kirsten Francis. She graduated from RIT Photo as a Visual Media student in 2015. After graduation, she worked at a tech company doing e-commerce photography for one year and then moved to New York City to pursue photography in 2016. Kirsten now lives in Manhattan and works as a freelance photographer. Her work includes photographing interiors and lifestyle photography.
When Kirsten was a senior in high school, she struggled to figure out what I wanted to study in college. She shared, “I was nervous to pursue a career like photography because I knew it could be tough to make a living. My mom found the photography school at RIT and we immediately went on a tour. I loved how the School focused on the technical side of photography because I knew that would better prepare me for a career after school. I chose Visual Media as my major because I hoped learning graphic design would make me more marketable to future employers.” And look at her now!
Kirsten runs her own freelance photography business in New York City. She mostly works for interior designers and photographs their projects. She shoots editorial and lifestyle assignments for different brands in her assignments. She wants her photographs to be warm and inviting. She shared, “Through the styling, lighting, and composition I can pull the audience in and help them “feel” what it’s like to be in the spaces I photograph. My clients and I try to capture spaces in a way that makes viewers want to recreate what they see for their everyday lives.” She photographs apartments in NYC most frequently but when shooting an actual house, she has found it can be a lot different than a city apartment. For example, the lighting can be a lot more dynamic.
“One of the most exciting moments in my career was when Martha Stewart Living reached out to hire me and I then saw my name printed in their magazine for the first time. It was the first “household” name that I had the pleasure of working with and it was pretty early on in my career. It was definitely a “pinch-me” moment! I asked how they found my work and they told me it was on an RIT blog. How ironic and funny enough!”
Kirsten’s experiences in the pandemic and how she faced it was challenging. She had to stop working for about 3-4 months last year. “I was definitely panicking when thinking about how long I’d go without work. However, as soon as businesses started opening back up, I began working again. I am very fortunate that the Interior Design industry has been very busy now that everyone is in their home more and finding home projects they’d like to do. For the last year, most of my work has been interior design based.”
Kirsten’s advice to share with students is, “I think it’s really important to be passionate about what you are photographing. I have a passion for interior design and the fact that I can combine both my love for photography and design in one job keeps me excited to go to work. Of course, you are always going to have to take on jobs that may not be the most exciting to pay the bills, but as you grow in your career you can become much pickier about the jobs you take. If you aren’t able to make money from what you are passionate about at the moment, make sure you test outside of work to build your portfolio!”
Additional advice she added about being a photographer, “I would tell myself to stop putting so much pressure on yourself and take it one day at a time. This is a competitive industry, and everyone has their own journey and their own timeline. Make sure you learn early on how to actually run a business! You could be the best photographer but if you don’t protect yourself with contracts, you don’t know how to do your taxes, or your invoicing is unorganized, then you will be losing out on income. My advice is to reach out to people and ask questions-you’d be surprised by how many people are willing to help. I’d also advise you to not undervalue yourself. Don’t take jobs where they aren’t offering you a respectful rate because you are only hurting yourself and the industry in the long run. Some clients will most certainly try to take advantage of you so you must know your worth!”
I appreciated the great advice that Kirsten shared, it resonated with me how staying passionate is important because that pushes you to keep going! I hope Kirsten’s journey as a photographer inspired you and getting to know her was fun. If you would like to see more check out Kirsten’s website http://www.kirstenfrancisphoto.com/
By Emily SuDock
About Emily Emily is a third-year advertising photography student who is also cross-registered in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She has been hard of hearing most of her life. Emily was born in China adopted by her loving family. They are a big part of her life. Emily has a Nikon 600 with a 35 mm lens which she loves taking portraits with.
