V: Hi everyone welcome back!! Today we have a very incredible person joining us. I met Shefa a little bit over a year ago and since then I have learned a lot about embracing originality and creativity. I think this young lady truly exemplifies artistry at its greatest capacity and hopefully you’ll see why. So Shefa, tell everyone a bit about yourself first.
SHEFA: Hi, my name is Shefa. I am 21 years old, and a senior Film and Media Arts Major. My life pretty much revolves around art. My major is film and my hobby is photography. When I am not doing either, I am working on graphic design related projects or learning from new editing tutorials on Youtube. But other than art, I like to read, hang out with friends, or go around the city and explore different places. I am also a huge caffeine addict. I just really love coffee and tea. Drinking either brings me so much happiness and joy and makes me feel at peace.
V: Hahaha I hate coffee but I wish I loved it. I’ve tried acquiring the taste but it hasn’t worked yet. What led you to photography and filmmaking?
SHEFA: Both photography and film were intertwined when I started at the age of 12. In my neighborhood there is an organization that holds competitions every year for Muslim students. They’ll give you a topic- such as unity or peace- and kids from as young as kindergarten and as old as high school can participate. You write an essay that you could give a speech about. So, I did that for a couple of years and I realized I suck at public speaking so I was wondering if they had another category for people like me. And they did. They had one category called multimedia and you could make a powerpoint or a video based on the same theme. When I was in fourth grade, I made a powerpoint for that competition, but again realized I still sucked at public speaking. So the next year, in fifth grade, I decided to make a video. I had never touched a camera before then and had no idea what Windows Movie Maker was, which was the hip video editing software at the time. I just picked up the camera and started shooting. Now looking back, I realize that I made a little script, that didn’t even follow the real format, but was essentially the same thing at the time. I would go out and film each shot. I remember it was snowing and my parents were like ‘what in the world are you doing? Just come inside. This is not going to go anywhere’. And my mom and I still laugh about this because she thought it was just going to be a phase and my parents thought I should stop wasting all my time on it. That same year, I actually ended up getting first place in the competition. They played my video on the big screen for everyone to watch and instead of watching the film, I watched the audience. I saw them tearing up while watching my video, and in my fifth grade mind, I thought, ‘this medium is so powerful’. I think that’s the moment when I realized I wanted to get into this field. Since then, I participated in film competitions in middle school and high school, and I placed in some of them. I then ended up judging that same competition that I started out in. When it came to college, I knew there was no other major that I could do other than film. And I stuck with that and now hopefully I’m going to graduate in that.
V: Hopefully?! HAHA. That’s such a cute little anecdote, though. You never know how one ‘silly’ thing can lead to your next success. Anyways, I think a lot of people tend to underestimate more creative careers and put other careers, such as those of STEM, on a pedestal. However, I know for a fact that doing a job that requires creativity 24/7 is extremely difficult. What do you do when you’re stuck and can’t think creatively?
SHEFA: That’s a good question and it’s definitely something that I have experienced with people comparing STEM with the arts. It’s true that STEM is very hard in terms of studying and the amount of work that you have to do for it, but I think comparing STEM to arts is like comparing two things that you can’t even compare against each other. You just can’t compare STEM to art – they’re not the same thing. For example, if you’re a STEM major you have to spend hours and hours in the library studying hard and memorizing things, whereas with the arts you don’t have to study from a textbook but you spend hours cultivating your craft. Creative blocks are something that creative people face all the time, in fact, I feel like I was currently in one, actually currently am in one. I don’t really know where it stems from, but, for me, to overcome it I sometimes walk around city. I also love watching people interacting, and seeing the world for what it is. And getting away from everything. Getting away from social media. Getting away from your phone. And getting away from even close friends. And going out and just seeing how life is lived. That has really helped me become inspired by just everyday living. The one thing that I love about photography and film is capturing every day magic and just normal things that are oftentimes overlooked. Just being able to go out and see how people live their life is very inspiring and motivating.
V: Wow, I need to start doing that too for Females of Filadelphia. What would you say to people trying to learn to use a camera for the first time? People like me, who are amateurs at taking photos.
SHEFA: That’s such an easy and hard question to ask, only because right now in the time that we are in, photography has blown up. Everyone is a photographer. Which is a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. But because everyone is a photographer, it is very hard to not be overwhelmed. For me, I didn’t take a photography class until I came to college. I use YouTube too. I feel like nowadays, YouTube is the answer to everything from cooking to fixing your home. One thing that people have always told me is to ‘just shoot’. Whenever I ask for advice- from professors or professional photographers- they all just say ‘keep shooting’ and ‘keep creating’. And before I used to urge people to tell me more of their inside secrets but now looking back, I know that’s the key to it. You can go on YouTube and watch as many videos as you want or open a manual and read it inside out, but until you go out there and you take a hundred thousand shots, you’re not going to get better at it. I feel like just creating and figuring out what speaks to you and what things you like to photograph really helps. Another thing to keep in mind, because everyone’s a photographer it makes it so easy to compare yourself. But in terms of photography, you just can’t do that. Or in life in general, you can’t compare yourself to other people. Sometimes when I look at my photos next to professional photographers, I think ‘wow my photos suck’ but we have different journeys. They have already been through where I’m at. The only person you should compare with is yourself. And hopefully you can see yourself grow and become a better creator that way.
V: I completely agree comparing yourself is honestly so debilitating! But omgosh one hundred thousand shots. So obviously you have captured so many different shots, but if you had to pick, what has been your favorite project, so far, and why?
SHEFA: I would say my ‘What a Muslim Woman Looks Like’ project I did for my first photography class I took empowering portraits of five of my good friends. I also put quotes describing what each of them is doing in their field. I just wanted to put a good representation out there of what Muslims are. And one of the reasons why I’m in the field of photography and film is to just change the narrative and put representation out there. When I look on the screen, I rarely, if ever, see someone that looks like me in an advertisement or in a movie. And if they are there they are represented as a terrorist or someone that is just a Muslim. I don’t want my only identity to be ‘The Muslim’. The reason I wanted to get involved was just so I could put my story out there because if I don’t tell it, then someone else will. And that project was just really special to me because it was shedding a positive light on my people, or people who look like me. And I want to keep doing stuff like that where I get to listen to people’s stories and empower them.
V: That’s exactly how I feel too. Hence why I want to capture as many stories in Philadelphia as possible. But tell us Shefa, how did you start your business? How did you grow your social media presence by so much?
SHEFA: I am very not business minded or business oriented, and I think that shows if someone were to come in and evaluate my growth from the business standpoint. The way I started the business part was in junior year. I photographed my friend’s sister’s party and she wanted to put the picture I took of her as her profile picture. She asked me what my photography page was and I told her I didn’t have one. And I did not want to make one but she insisted I had to make a photography page if I wanted to be successful with it. So junior year of high school, I made one and she tagged me and people started liking my pictures. Then someone reached out to me asking me to do their engagement shoot. I was so confused why she would ask me. She was my first client but we ended up having such a good experience. We went out to this park in D.C. and they were such a great couple to shoot with. It felt so natural directing them and taking their pictures. They even said afterwards that the pictures were so nice. And she’s one of those clients that keeps coming back, which is amazing, God-bless. But apart from that, I just put myself out there. I’m not exactly sure how it grew. I just loved doing it because it wasn’t something that I felt like I had to post for. I shot because I loved it. And I posted it because I loved it. Maybe people caught on to that part and thought it was interesting. I started on my Instagram later and kept posting on there. And I remember when I started it and it was like four followers and I thought that was cool. But I had made it just for myself, so that I could post my photography and so I could separate it and if I had a client, I could show them. Like a portfolio for social media. I remember telling myself I didn’t care if it stayed at four followers because I was content with doing it for me. I was doing it for myself to grow as a photographer. And now somehow it has reached over 1,000. I feel like if you are doing it because you care, if you’re doing it for yourself, it shows. I think that’s what people catch on to. When there’s a break in authenticity, people don’t relate to it.
V: Wow that was so beautifully stated and I think it is so true. If you are not doing what you love then why do it? What has been the greatest obstacle that you have faced in photography/film making?
SHEFA: Well I don’t know if I mentioned this in my introduction but I’m also Indian. And I don’t know if whoever is reading this is familiar with brown people culture. But, it’s very stereotypical and also true in many situations, but you are expected to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer or an IT person. That’s just the path you’re supposed to go into because you’ll be well off. And so when I was applying for majors and chose film, my parents were like ‘what?’. And not just them, but my community of people in general were just confused. They’d ask, “What are you going to do with that?”. And even other people in general thought that it was a great thing to do but they didn’t understand how I was going to create a career out of it. And originally I thought, ‘well why am I doing this?’. But it’s because I care about it and it’s something I’m passionate about. I think my parents were always going to let me do it, but I’m super close to my parents and I didn’t want to disappoint them. But I just kept doing it because I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. This is literally all I care and know how to do. And if I can work hard in it, I can succeed in it. And that’s what I did. As a freshman, they weren’t proud of it and I wasn’t happy. And I felt like no one was going to be happy with what I was doing. But now everyone’s fine and everyone’s supporting me. That flip was only because I kept at it. If you’re really passionate about something, people will see it. And if you really care about something, you’ll do well in it. And people could see it wasn’t just a hobby for me. If you just keep at it and you show your passion, people will see that. People will see that it is your whole life. And that’s something that’s really hard about it. Just being Indian, and being in my culture. But that’s why I want to do it because no one else is doing it. I mean some people are, but it’s not the majority. The reason I want to be in it so badly, is because I don’t see the representation like I said before. I feel like if there aren’t people like you in your career path, that’s even more of a reason to go into it.
V: I think you should also do what isn’t expected of you. Favorite film and why?
SHEFA: Ugh that’s so hard because there are so many different kinds. I feel like as a senior film major, I should have one. Hm. Have you seen the film Freedom Writers? It’s one of my favorite films just because it’s inspired me so much. It’s about a young teacher who inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, and pursue education beyond high school. And education means so much to me; I hope to one day make films about education, and teachers, and why they do what they do just because it is such an integral part of people’s lives in the future. People definitely underestimate how much a teacher does and the effect of a good one versus the effect of a bad one. And because that is something I want to get into, the movie really speaks to me. It’s a really well made and it’s a cool movie that talks about a teacher and her journey in overcoming obstacles. Obstacles such as teaching in a very poor and run down neighborhood. And my mom is also a teacher, so it all just connects. That’s the kind of film I want to make and that is why I’m really inspired by it.
V: Ooo I haven’t watched it but now I have to put it on my list. Last quick question, what is something you would like the audience to know about you that they wouldn’t know based on this interview/just by looking at you?
SHEFA: Um. I don’t really know what people think of me when they see me. I have a huge mug collection haha. *ten minutes later* You just gotta get to know people. Why are people judging? *ten minutes later* I feel like I’m such a predictable human being. Wow. *ten minutes later* I love doing laundry. *ten minutes later* I hate food. You know how some people are foodies? Like I hate food. I would drink my meals if I could.
V: EW! Mushy food.
SHEFA: Um haha..if you get to know me, I’m not as quiet as you’d think? Oh I know, I listen to country music!
V: What?!? Do you watch the CMAs? Who is your favorite country artist?
SHEFA: I love Sam Hunt! I think no one would expect that.
V: Omgosh wow Shefa and Sam Hunt, that’s a duo I’d never think would mix. Ya hear that folks? Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. I think that is very important, especially here at Females of Filadelphia where I want everyone to have a voice and everyone to feel heard regardless of what they may bring to the table. Okay that is all for today but make sure to follow Shefa on both her instagram accounts (@shefaahsan AND @photosbyshefa) and make sure to support local artists now and always because they keep our economy running! That is all darlings,
Xoxo V.