When I first FaceTimed LA-based photographer Catie Laffoon, I expected us to just go through the motions. You know, interview questions, article outline, getting a sense of her personality to make the piece more…well, her. But we ended up doing the total opposite. After a long talk about feminism, Coachella, and how cool her pink hair was, I realized that I was talking to an extremely unique individual, who managed to crack jokes despite feeling under the weather.
The photographer’s personality is best described as genuine and down-to-earth. “I don’t like inauthenticity, I have no time for it,” she quips. Laffoon grew up in a mountainous region of North Carolina, in a town called Tryon. When asked what inspired her to go into photography, she explains that it wasn’t her original plan. “I wanted to be a film director,” she says. However, she realized that the career path she originally thought was her dream wasn’t making her happy; she dived into shooting stills to make some money while she figured out what she wanted to do next. “Photography was a hobby that I loved and had so much fun doing, but it never occurred to me that I could have a job doing something I truly loved,” she adds. Jokingly, she says that she thought work was supposed to be hard. She told me the story of how she realized that photography was the path she needed to follow to have a career she loved and could make a living off of: “One night I was shooting a concert and I took this photo and there was this moment I captured…this moment of connection between me and the performer. It just all clicked in my brain in that instant, this is what I needed to do with my life.”
“[Photography] had always been my passion but I had never given myself permission to acknowledge and explore it and what would happen if I just gave myself permission? My whole life changed after that.”
Her business grew slowly, through word of mouth. Eventually, she started shooting for Red Bull. “I’d shoot all the backstage portraits at festivals or the concerts around LA and post show portraits,” she says about the job. Her reputation grew as word spread about her efficiency—she was the kind of photographer who was able to have bands/artists photographed under 5 minutes. But it wasn’t just the efficiency that led to her own image. “I’d come away with these extremely human moments where peoples guards were down and the bands, their managers, publicists all were floored in how I could do that in such a short amount of time,” she explained. Bands and labels began reaching out to her, resulting in bigger projects. Catie also emphasized her approach with clients: by creating experiences during the photoshoots, she says that she sets herself up for being a part of unique stories and memories, which she says are some of the coolest things she’s been a part of.
On magazine outlets and her work: “I have this unique access in music, especially, and so when it comes to intimate stories, like backstage photo diaries where you’re in dressing rooms and places few cameras can go and that most people never get to see, I’m able to go there and shoot those things. It’s hard for magazines to send a random person to hang with a band and be their shadow in these intimate moments and settings, I think it does take a certain energy to be able to make bands feel at home and relax around you and forget you’re there, or remember you’re there in the best ways, because there’s trust there.”
Laffoon’s career only built up from there. Social media and relationships played a significant role; people began asking for her personally, or were given her name by other people she’d worked with. The photographer also found Instagram to be a helpful platform, as bands and actors she’s worked with would post the pictures she took.
Catie’s approach to photoshoots is an interesting one. Her aesthetic is raw, playful, and unguarded, topped off with emotions and self-expression. She prefers natural light and doesn’t really set anything up—in a Catie Laffoon-directed photoshoot, freeform is key. “I find a “play space”—that’s what I call wherever we shoot—and there are no rules. People can go wherever they want and I’ll follow and together we create moments,” she explains. Allowing her subjects to move around freely and without bounds gives her an opportunity to let them paint their own image, as opposed to her restricting them to what she would want to imagine.
Q: Have you done photography outside of LA? Where and what was your favorite place to shoot?
A: New Zealand. Oh, my Middle Earth.
Her advice to anyone she meets tends to touch upon how important it is to follow your passion. A firm believer in always being happy when you go to work, Laffoon explains that it takes more courage to do what makes you happy, rather than wake up to remember you have a job that will be there, but doesn’t excite you in the morning. For aspiring photographers, she says, “Figure out what it is that you want to say, and be honest about it, what is it that you “see?” that you look for? And create the space to allow those moments to happen. 90% of photography is being good with people. So create and environment that allows the moments you’re looking for.”
More about Catie Laffoon:
Photo inspiration: Ellen Von Unwerth and Herb Ritts
Favorite photoshoot to date: “That’s like asking me to choose a favorite child. Don’t make me do it, I can’t.”
Favorite filter: Anything Afterlight or VSCO. I like the E1 VSCO filter a lot.
An alternative career: I’d probably own a cute little café somewhere not in LA.
