Sara Stathas: Focus Photography Lecture

Sara Stathas: Focus Photography Lecture

by Lainey Koch

Sara Stathas is a photographer that does both fine art and editorial work. She visited Focus Photography Club to talk about her practice and education, as well as discussing her process. Her presentation consisted of a discussion with the audience and allowed the viewers to ask questions regarding her education, process, and favorite work. 

I found it notable that Sara Stathas went to school for painting, and not photography. She has little formal training in photography but has pushed herself to become a successful self-taught photographer. A broad range of subjects has been photographed by Sara, as a lot of her work is editorial. Sara stressed the importance of networking and connections when looking for opportunities as an artist. 

A valuable thing that I learned from Sara's talk was the importance of working with your surroundings and entering situations with an open mind to get the best results. She often goes into office settings to photograph people without much control of the location or attire, but is able to see things from a perspective fresh enough to create brilliant work out of something traditionally seen as drab. As an editorial photographer, it's important to catch the eye of the viewer to draw them into the article. 

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I didn't have much prior knowledge to the realm of editorial photography, and hearing Sara Stathas talk about her journey and experience opened my eyes to another professional atmosphere.