Profile: Christina Paik

Christina Paik is a photographer and creative consultant best known for her raw and organic portraits. With a preference for film, Christina's work can be seen in editorials for Off-White, Stussy and Kith.

Creativity has been a firm outlet throughout Christina's life. Her love for photography however, was something that went unfound until her teen years after being introduced to her brother's film camera. Though somewhat of a style icon herself, Christina opts to stay out of the limelight when it comes to her work, keeping the focus on the photos.

What was the creative skill that got you started in the beginning, and how did that lead to where you are now?

I've been into art since a really young age. I was the school artist, always drawing, painting, making sculptures. That's when I decided to study fine arts. At around the age of 15 I discovered photography and there was something about it I was really attracted to. I was playing around with my brothers camera, he studied it in high school, and was using an old camera of our grandmothers. I absolutely fell in love with it and that's when I started working in the dark room.

What is it about you that's allowed you to turn your passion of photography into a successful career?

Being persistent and being consistent is very important. You have to keep pushing yourself to get to what you want.

What do you want to learn in the future to help grow your success?

I'd like to learn InDesign, I messed up not learning it in school. I also want to learn two more languages, particularly Japanese, because a lot of my clients are Japanese. Being able to communicate with the models would make it a lot easier for me to make them feel comfortable and to get a better portrait.

Let’s talk about your craft a bit more - what kind of photography do you like to do?

I don’t necessarily like to call myself a fashion photographer, I am a portrait artist. I do care about fashion, but for me it’s more an accessory and I care more about the portrait I create.

What makes you different to any other photographer?

A lot of people say that my work is really candid, even if it's staged work. I try to make it look very natural.

Let’s talk about collaboration and how you work with other people.

I have a team of creatives. As I said I like being consistent, so when I get hired for something I like to use the same people to keep that consistency which I think is very important. I also like to push other artists. Seeing other people being successful makes me satisfied.