Feature Friday: Julia Wang

      Julia Wang is a budding photographer from "east coast, USA" (as it states on her blog, dècouverte). Although my route of discovery for her photography is pretty indirect, I'm so glad I felt compelled to click on the link to her blog. Her stated interest in photography seems to be the photojournalism/documentary photo route, but what really blew me away were the various portraits she has of herself and friends/models. Although we are the same age, she is doing work that I couldn't have 

dreamed of doing while I was still a senior in high school.

Name: Julia Wang

Age: 18 (yikes!)

Basic Interests: British television, rainy days, sunny afternoons, and foggy mornings. I also enjoy eating copious amounts of chocolate and kettle chips. Besides photography (of course), I love design and watercolors.

1. We'll start with something I think all photographers get asked at one point...who gave you your first camera? How old were you? Is this how you developed an interest in photography or was it by some other mean?

Hm…I think the first time I properly used a camera was in 2004 – when my mom gave me her old cybershot (mind you, I think it was a 3.2MP one) during our vacation to Baltimore. It was the end of 2008 that I started posting photographs on deviantART and becoming obsessed with following amazing artists. From there, I begged my parents to buy me my Canon 40D in exchange for four years of no presents whatsoever. I had always classified myself as an artist, but I never liked drawing or painting….so I took photos. J

2. How long have you had "photographer" as your top aspiration? Basically, how long have you been interested in photography?

I don’t think it was until last year (2011) that I decided I wanted to pursue art professionally and as a career. I was raised believing that I had to just do well in school and get a well paying job (probably as a scientist, I do love science). Art was always just a hobby. It was a hobby I was to follow after I got a good job. But hey, you live life once – and this is something I’m sort of good at, so why no pursue it?

3. Have you had any formal photography training in a classroom or other setting? Do you think that this helps get the basics down for photography?

Nope. Everything I know was taught by the infamous internet (and various artists that critiqued my work online).I personally think self-taught photography is always the most important….because “seeing” isn’t something that can be taught in a classroom. Only passion and love for the art can truly teach you what photography has to offer. But, after you have the basics down, I do think it’s pretty helpful to be in a class so you can actually learn about film/how cameras actually work/etc. 
But the basics, internet all the way.

4. Do you get a lot of inspiration from the internet or do you find things offline to be inspired by?

In some ways, yes! But the internet to me is more of a motivating factor. I see people make amazing things, so I want to go out and do that as well. The thing that inspires me the most is people and how we’re all so different and so identical at the same time. Also, like everyone, the sheer beauty of nature is always an astounding source of inspiration.

5. Who are some of your favorite young photographers?
Wah, too many to name. Jean Fan (roseonthegrey.deviantart.com) was the one who inspired me to start photography in the first place due to her simple, yet brilliantly relatable work. I really don’t have any favorite photographers (I love everyone!), rather favorite photographs. (I’m attempting http://www.flickr.com/photos/auroille/galleries/ to collect all my favorite photos…) But if I had to choose someone, right now it would be Nirrimi/Matt (http://weliveyoung.blogspot.com/ /http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcaplinphotography/)and Susannah B (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ireland1324/)

6. I'm also really interested in your graphic design abilities. Do you have a preference of which field you'd rather work in (design/photography)?
:O Well thank you! I first started off doing ~the internets~ by designing silly graphics on Neopets, so I initially intended to become a graphic designer. But then I found deviantART and photography – and le rest is history. As of now, I would most 
definitely like to work in photography – but I wouldn’t mind a career in design either.

7. What are your interests outside of photography? Do you see these having an impact on what you select as your subjects?
Besides photography, I really love design and working with colors. (They just make me happy.) I’m also terribly curious, so I usually quench my thirst by just…learning and reading. :D Although I prefer documentary photography, literature/poetry/biology do have an influence on my work and I sometimes dabble in conceptual subjects. They inevitable 
influence my choice in subjects, I love learning about interesting people.

8. Where do you see yourself taking your photography in the future? I know that's a horribly open ended question, but it's always fun to ask.

In the ~ideal world~ where I can have everything and anything I want, I dream about working for National Geographic in the 
future as someone who documents lifestyles and people from all the corners of the world.

To see more of Julia's photography, check out her blog or her flickr.

     I hope everyone enjoyed my first "Feature Friday". If you know of someone that deserves to be put in the spotlight or maybe you want me to check your blog/store/website out, drop by and send me an email: triplethread@yahoo.com.