Sarah Callis is a photographer who specializes in senior portraits. She’s been taking photos since she was a freshman at Ingraham High School. Sarah graduated this year and will be attending the University of Washington in the fall. She chose Broadway as the place that sparks her creativity.
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Why did you choose Broadway as the place that sparks your creativity?
It's got a really nice aesthetic and I know that people won't judge me for taking photos of everything.
What made you decide to get into photography?
Actually, my dad. He has always been into photography as well. He just gave me a little small digital camera one day and I ended up taking random pictures everywhere. I think I was, like, five or something. And then he had a big, digital DSLR camera which I ended up stealing and using non-stop so ever since then I’ve just been taking photos everywhere I go.
How long have you done senior portraits?
Um, I started doing them my senior year because a lot of my friends were graduating and I needed to make some money. I really enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun!
Do you want to pursue a career in the arts?
Oh definitely. I’m very into film as well as photography. So I’m going to U-Dub actually to… I put my major down as communications or visual communication but… I’m not really sure what I want to do yet but definitely something like film or photography or creative-related. I am not a science-y or math-y person.
What three people, living or dead, would you love to have dinner with?
Probably Billie Eilish. I actually know her personally. She’s really close friends with my cousin and I met her before she even released any of her music upstairs and stuff. We’ve talked before and she’s so sweet and funny and I’d just love to sit down with her and have a conversation. Also Trisha Paytas and Avicii.
How is photography a part of your life?
I mean, every day I’ll go on Instagram and follow all of my favorite photographers and get inspiration from them. I also took an IB art class this year which, not only taught me more about photography, but also how to use acrylic paint and how to use wash. I also took IB film this year so I made some films with some close friends. I guess every single day it’s a part of my life.
Visually, what’s your favorite movie?
Probably Tomboy by Celine Sciamma or the Polar Express.
Window seat or aisle seat?
Window!
Do you have a favorite photographer?
Oh yeah. I really like Annie Leibovitz. She does a lot of Vogue photography. Also Mark Testino… but sexual assault allegations just came out against him so my respect for him definitely went down. I follow some Instagram photographers as well. There’s this one girl, I think her name is Irene Rudnyk. She does amazing portraits and she really inspires me. I look up to her a lot.
What’s your favorite account on Instagram?
Let me get my phone out… Oh! Okay, so I love dogs and there’s this dog named Angus. The account is @angus_theyellowlab and he’s really fat and adorable and I’ve just been following him for years. I love him so much. I love Billie Eilish’s account. I like meme accounts as well because I’m just, you know, a meme queen. I liked Lil Tay but she deleted all her posts. She was just so funny. I looked at her for so long. Also Mason Ramsey… I don’t know I follow a bunch of random accounts on Instagram.
What’s a passion you have that isn’t photography-based?
I love food… I’m really into fitness. Oh, shopping. I love shopping and thrifting for new clothes.
Do you have a favorite type of camera to use? What is it?
I usually shoot with a Nikon d7100. Honestly though, it’s not really the camera it’s the lense that makes photos incredible. You could have the worst digital camera body, but if you have a good lense it makes all the difference. So I shoot with a 15mm 1.4 and that’s the one I’ve been using a lot now. It’s just incredible and so gorgeous. It’s not even me really, it’s just the lense. I don’t really shoot with film a lot just because it’s expensive and I don’t know where a lot of my film cameras are. I really do love film though and I love taking polaroids.
Who taught you how to use a camera?
Myself! My dad just shoots on auto so yeah, thanks to YouTube and the internet and watching countless hours of how to use photoshop, I was able to teach myself.
What’s your least favorite part of the process of taking photos?
When I set up a day to shoot and it’s raining, or cold, or ugly outside. I mean, we live in Seattle so I just have to work with the conditions that I’m given. I like it, but at the same time it’s terrible because I wish it was just sunny outside or not raining. Definitely that, but also if I have to work with really bad lighting then post-editing is a nightmare because I have to fix all of that and it is not easy.
What was the last book you read?
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Oh my god, that book was amazing. It brought up a bunch of stuff about race and gender and it was just really refreshing to read. I think the author’s a great writer.
Finally, would you say you’re connected to Seattle’s teen art scene?
Honestly, I definitely could be apart of it more. I don’t know, I have some friends who are really creative and take photos or film cool stuff. So maybe more like my friends and I at Ingraham, but I wouldn’t say I’m connected locally. I really should get into it more but yeah… so yes and no.
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