Her family fled China during a time when the arts were forbidden. So when Jean fell in love with visual storytelling, she knew it wouldn’t be a direct path to her dreams. In this casual interview, we’ll get to know Jean Bai, architectural photographer based in Northern California. When you see and listen to Jean tell her story, you can feel her raw nature. She tells it like it is through her eyes. Shaped by travels and philosophy, I’m sure that you’ll have an even greater love of her work once you listen to her open up!
(all images courtesy of Jean Bai)
(01:40) Hear about Jean’s story
“I came to America when I was about 3 or 4…. My journey as a photographer has been kind of circuitous.”
(05:16) Learn about how theater and film played a role
“They say that acting is the shy man's revenge and I was always more of an introvert.”
(06:11) …and math?
“It wasn't like I had a passion for math. … I can empathize because I know the story of my parents.”
(10:00) How does constructivism play into your business?
“That's actually something that I always kinda resonated with because that's how I learned and kinda shaped myself into who I am and how I see the world.”
(15:51) Norway, IM Pei, and traveling without traveling
“When I travel that's just me revisiting why I even became a photographer.”
(19:34) Jumping into vacation rental shoots
“I got to shoot in a lot of light that I did not think would work.”
(29:52) The client stepping stone to better projects
“It did give me a platform to kinda rise into AirBnB Luxe which gave me the ability to shoot awesome drone footage, even.”
(31:56) Jean’s pre-shoot routine/process
“It's more for my clients than for myself.”
(33:51) Looking for light vs composition
“When I'm doing a scout I'm not looking for lighting. I'm mainly looking for composition.”
(36:30) What Jean’s loving right now
“I want to say that I'm quite in love with content-aware fill in photoshop.”
(38:49) Keeping up with the Joneses
“There are other photographers doing what we're doing. And I'm sure it's great to, like, study them. I just don't choose to do that.”
(40:35) Inspiration
“It's how you can kinda create your own style.”
(41:28) Haters gonna hate, but…
“I guarantee that there will be people out there who will hire you.”
(43:12) No matter where you are…
“I'm going to do a damn good job at whatever it is I'm doing.”
Thanks so much for a great chat, Jean! You can find Jean’s portfolio at www.jeanbai.com and can follow her on IG at @konstruktivist.
Until next time,
xo,
Natalia