ZOE LAW
@zozozostar
A CAREER OF COLOR
Hey! I'm Zoe Law, a photographer from Pasadena, California. My journey with photography started when I was thirteen. I was always fascinated with the fashion magazines I would flip through at my father's hair salon growing up. During family events, I would grab my mother's digital camera out of her office and go around the house taking pictures of my family.
Photographing people always interested me because I love interaction. I would take my camera everywhere with me and shoot like I was filming a movie. I shoot in first person perspective, so I want my audience to feel like they are in the moment with me. Through my street photography and portraiture, I think of each image or series as an adventure I take a viewer on.
By the time I got to college, I had solidified my brand into Portraiture. I decided to pursue the fine arts and am receiving a BFA Photography at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, CA.
"Untitled" Self Portrait, Photography, 2024
An image and a celebration of myself. I decided to photograph myself, professionally, because I am always behind the camera. As much as I enjoy being the director, I figured I could put myself in both perspectives, hence the double exposure in the image. Being both the director and the subject, I execute this look in Adobe Photoshop.
From 2017-2019 I practiced in Photoshop heavily, learning the different tools you could use to transform an image. I loved the creative freedom I found in Adobe Creative Cloud.
I would never come out with the same thing.
As you scroll below, we will dive deeper into my experiments in Adobe, learning what shaped my style of 'Creative Photography'.
VOLUME ONE
It starts with color.
I use Adobe Lightroom to create my own presets. Using blue hues with green tones and increasing contrast in a photo + vibrance, I bring out the colors in an image, highlighting one main color through the preset. Depending on what color scheme I go with when it comes to creating these presets, it helps set a mood when it comes to the image. How do the colors support what message I am trying to convey? Do the blues give the image a bold look? Is it calming?
The image to the right, with the man standing with the extended du-rag, was shot in front of a mural highlighting black and brown communities. The 'du-rag' is a symbol of blackness. This photo is a protest in itself. Showing dominance through the subjects stature, the subject represents the perseverance of said communities.
When making presets, I usually create them based on the image. I will sometimes take colors in the image already and use that same color in my color grading. Bringing harmony into my image first before bringing anything else in to contrast. Contrasting colors for me represents my knack for seeing all sides of the cube. I am a problem solver with a niche interests in what's underneath, so through my photography, I use color to express that notion.
The image in the top left, with the woman in the red dress, she is in despair and deep pain. Capturing this with harsh flash lighting, the red dress being a symbol of pain, sharpness, sometimes associated with blood or roses, was paired with a green to contrast with the dress. I felt the green hues would bring the dress out and pull your focus onto the subject and their body language.
