WHO TO FOLLOW - AUGUST 2022

   BEAR: How did you pick up photography? Any sort of formal training?

SHAYLA: I actually got my first camera pretty early on. It was a little digital point and shoot that my parents gifted me right before 5th grade graduation. I was obsessed and continued to play with photos and video throughout high school. Then in college is when things got more serious. I was sifting through my families collection of old cameras and found my dad’s canon AE-1 from high school. Safe to say I took it back with me to Albuquerque and never looked back.  

Film really made things click for me. Film helped me to slow down and practice composition rather than just searching through a sea of digital images for the “perfect shot.” When I started shooting black and white I really fell in love with the practice of shooting and processing my own film. A lot of people believe that you should scan your own film to achieve desired outcomes, but in my opinion it’s really best to manipulate in the developing tank. 

I’m such process driven person and I find just as much joy processing my film as I do shooting it. 

I have no formal training in photography, just trial and error (and some knowledgeable friends that have helped me along the way). 

BEAR: Favorite subjects?

SHAYLA: My best images are the ones when I have felt most comfortable and connected to my subject.  

I really love making photos while traveling, across the southwest. I’m a southwest girl born and raised so I feel really connected, and at ease, when I’m spending time with familiar landscapes. 

I shoot a lot of landscapes but try to approach them by accurately portraying how they make me feel, and why I am intrigued by them, rather than just what they are. I also love making images of my partner. We go on a lot of (mountain biking) trips, which gives me the opportunity to connect with landscapes in the ways that I enjoy and to photograph my partner connecting in the way that he enjoys. 

Portraits are fun, but I mostly like making them with my friends. Again, for me it’s all about feeling comfortable and connected. 

 BEAR: Do you have any sort of goals for the creative outlet; whether hobby based or career?  

SHAYLA: I think my long term goal with film photography is to never lose a passion for it. I love film, my core being is connected to it (which is a terrifying thought knowing that my greatest passion in life is in the hands of those who manufacture it). I don’t exactly desire to turn it into a career, I just want to shoot as much film as I can, for as long as I can. 

BEAR: How does writing play apart in your life? 

SHAYLA: Ah writing was my first love. I have always felt connected to written words. For me, writing is one of my life lines, it helps to inform my photography and graphic design practice and reflect on the experiences of both. All 3 of my practices rely on each other. 

BEAR: Did you receive any sort of formal training in writing?

SHAYLA: I have a BA in multimedia journalism from the University of New Mexico, which absolutely changed my writing habits and really made me realize how deeply connected people can feel with your writing. Which is a wonderful thing to share with an audience. 

BEAR: Do you have any sort of goals for writing; whether hobby based or career? 

SHAYLA: Writing for me writing will always be a natural instinct. I think one day I would love to get back into writing in a more serious practice, do some more journalism, screenwriting or copy writing. But for now I’m just enjoying the practice of it in low-pressure explorative way. 

BEAR: How did you get into graphics? 

SHAYLA: So by the time I was graduating undergrad, I was ready to continue my education. I was working at a newspaper as a editor and found myself becoming more interested in the way the paper design and layout came together. I was shooting film for a year or so at the time and thought I should make a zine combining my writing, photography and some art by friends. I made it and realized that I had never felt so intimated, yet fulfilled when completing a project. Graphic design really won me over. 

I decided to shift gears from writing to graphic design and pursue a masters degree in visual communication from ASU. 

Now I am a freelance graphic designer.  

BEAR: Fav program to create on? 

SHAYLA: Illustrator or InDesign. 

*BEAR: SAME🥰* 

SHAYLA: I love layout and publication design, so I try to spend a lot of time in Indesign but Illustrator and I have made a real connection over the last year. 

BEAR: And finally, any long term goals for this outlet; whether it be hobby based or career. 

SHAYLA: I am very committed to graphic design. It really helps me to make sense of all three of the things I love and put all of them into something tangible. Design can’t exist without copy and imagery, the other two can’t exist without the vehicle to share them with the world. I hope to make impactful work and continue to develop new ways to make meaningful connections between copy+imagery+design.