Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannel Resto.
Hi Shannel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a professional dancer and I’ve been dancing since I was three years old. My mother told me the first time I got on stage, I danced and when it was time for me to get off I cried. I cried because I wanted to get back on stage and not because I was scared. The arts have always been who I am, my safe place. I always knew that whatever I sought out to do, had to revolve around the arts. It wasn’t until I was in college that I found my calling through photography. I was born in the Bronx and was raised by a village of people. My parents had me at a very young age and we grew up together, with love and breaking family cycles. I grew up in Boston, where I attended Boston Arts Academy as a dance major and then graduated with a BFA in Dance at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts. While I was dancing, I got the opportunity to move to London for a year to dance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. This is where I decided to become a professional photographer. While dancing, I started to develop bursitis tendonitis in my hips, which led to more injuries. I knew the one thing I couldn’t do forever is dance on the stage, a stage I once cried getting off of. So when it was time to find internships, I decided to go to a photography studio called Studio 101:London to learn something new. I always photographed growing up, teaching myself through books and creating photos whenever I had the chance. If you asked anyone, I was either dancing or capturing the beauty of my friends with mini photo shoots. I’ve always found it to be important to archive where you are in life. However, I knew that the moment I changed my dancing career to becoming a professional photographer, it would be complicated; dance was my whole life.
My business SJR Photography was created when I decided to collide my profession as a performing artist with my passion for photography while living in NYC. What I want people to take from my story is I got to where I am today by opening myself to learning and taking risks. No matter where you come from and what you are doing, if you want to learn something new, take that risk because you never know what the outcome can be.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Graduating college with a degree in dance and barely a photography portfolio, finding work in the city was a struggle. But my story isn’t too different from most artists trying to make it in NYC. I sacrificed my time, I was a bartender, I interned at three different places and had about two side jobs. I made connections and said ‘yes’ in reasoning to every photo gig I could do, some that barely even paid me. I struggled to make rent and took the risk of quitting my bartending job to do photography full-time; with the help of my talent and willingness to just learn from everyone, it worked. That’s when I started to get recognized for my work in articles, getting referrals, and creating a business. I was able to have my work featured in articles/magazines like: Dance Magazine, Time Out NY, The New York Times, Forbes, Playbill, Broadway World, etc. and collaborate on projects I could have never imagined myself doing. However, even with steady growth in NYC, I found that I wanted more out of myself besides my career. This is part of why I took the risk to move to Atlanta and create a new journey here. Another challenge of restarting, but a rewarding one at heart.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself a versatile artist, dancer, and professional photographer. I have made it my mission to work with art spaces in creating memorable images and archiving the arts through nonprofit organizations and dance companies. A list of acclaimed companies I have worked with in the past are New York City Center, Peridance, Eryc Taylor Dance, Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts, FABNYC, NOCDNY, Immerse ATL, DanceLabNY, Times Square Alliance, and many more. Nevertheless, I have a wide range of styles in photography from events, fashion, performances, documentary and more. Recently, I was photographing at what I like to call the Olympics of fashion, the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Europe, whilst creating a new documentary photography series Letters Through Photographs. If asked, my art has been described as eclectic, storytelling, and detailed. Every photo I take recreates the love in which I see in people, places, and objects through my camera. I take pride in helping guide my clients through their vision and create lasting memories, archives through life, and different perspectives through my camera lens. I go the extra mile to ensure that every element in capturing those special moments is present through the experience my clients have with me. I want to communicate through my art the freedom to explore the impossible possibilities through my lens and help others learn.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I would love to share that I will be a featured guest on She Calls Her Shots podcast with Krista Marie discussing my experience in the photography business, said to come out the week of November 11th, 2022. The podcast is great for photographers & creative online business owners. “Creating a mindset focused around success & implementing the simple, effective strategies that you need to grow a sustainable, thriving business”. I am also excited to share that I will be self-publishing a photography coloring book called Capture the Colors. That will be available on Amazon in time for the holidays! The coloring book will feature 10 original SJR photographs that I transposed into coloring pages. Along with 10 Tips on how to Capture the Shot. Like photographing, coloring is an in-the-moment activity, capturing images through colors. It requires being present, as it allows the mind to forget certain stressors, improving focus, and reducing anxiety. Now, I can’t promise that this coloring book will cure any anxiety or stress, but I aspire to create a safe space to explore perspectives through my photographs. While also aiming to generate mindfulness and quietness, I want everyone to have the opportunity to give their minds some rest during moments of solitude. Transposing my photographs as colorless images has allowed for endless possibilities in embellishing my art in a collaborative way. I wanted this coloring book to be a collaborative process for those coloring. Leaving the answer, Would this change the intent in which my photograph was purposed for? So please be on the lookout for the Capture the Colors release date on my Instagram @s.j.r.photography and make sure to buy it for everyone you know including yourself, so that you can share the way you colored an SJR photograph with the hashtag #Capturethecolors.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sjrestophotography.wixsite.com/sjrphotographs
- Instagram: @s.j.rphotography
Image Credits
All artistic photographs were taken by me Shannel Resto (SJR Photography) Except portraits of me, First photo with me in green and pink floral dress portrait was taken by Daniel Friday @fri_day and second photo of me in yellow dress working was taken by Sidney Jamila @sidneyjamilabeauty (Please note if you have to choose one photo please use the first personal photo with green and pink floral dress.)
