Today we’d like to introduce you to Loli Lucaciu.
Loli, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I was a little kid in Romania, I was always interested in stories, in good visuals, and in media. As a 13-year old, I would teach myself how to modify HTML codes in order to customize my social media page.
I learned how to edit photos around the same time. I don’t remember when I picked up a camera for the first time, but I remember when I first owned one, all for myself: I was 17. As a teenager, I modeled unofficially and frequently, so my passion for images went beyond the fluid reality of the visual. As I had my own camera to experiment, I became increasingly aware of the power of the instant capture and of the ability of the model and the photographer alike to create beauty and curiosity in humankind. For me, images have always represented a sliver of reality and the beginning of a story.
As I continued my studies in college, I paired up this passion for the visual with a long-standing interest in languages (I am fluent in four) and writing. Hence, I graduated from Emory as a double-major in Media & Film and French. Luck and curiosity pushed me towards reporting, and following campus and online writing/photography stints, I ended up with an internship at CNN. My position allowed me to scramble for good visuals and stories on social media, as well as to use my language skills for international reporting.
While there, I figured out I would like to tell stories in the media, be them in photographic or written format — or both. I have a good eye for the aesthetic and I’m a dedicated art and fashion fan, so this past year I started a project within my Emory arts fellowship called Emory Creates (emorycreates.wordpress.com) that allows me to bring all my interests together to tell the stories of fellow artists. Every person I talk to and every photo I take of them reminds me that I’m on the right track on this freshly-started, and oftentimes unpredictable, career. I’m on the creative highway, speeding forward without a determined exit.
Has it been a smooth road?
Education in the U.S. allows you to be very flexible with your career interests — while that is an advantage, it has always troubled me. As a 23-year old, I went from wanting a career in journalism to becoming interested in psychology, to falling into the wonders of global literature and foreign languages and finally, to pondering on the powers of photography or writing as professions. I still don’t know the answer, which makes my current job search more difficult!
Much of my multilateral interest in this world came from the fact that I had to change countries and cultures as a child — I moved to the US when I was 15. I woke up in Alabama, with my culture shock sharper than the tips of those cowboy boots surrounding me everywhere I went. The first few years were difficult and my confusion –about my identity, my purpose and my dreams — was unbounded. I’m still learning how to live in this country knowing that I’m a female immigrant, a cultural hybrid with an accent; nevertheless, one with ambitions and skills, proud of where she comes from and of where she wants to go.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Loli Lucaciu Media – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My independent platform is Loli Lucaciu Media (www.lolilucaciu.com), a place that reunites my passion in photography and writing. I am open to creative gigs that allow me to photograph beautiful people and tell great stories.
In the past, I have been lucky to photograph President Jimmy Carter, to interview Doug Shipman (CEO of the largest arts institution in Atlanta, Woodruff Arts) and Catherine Fox (founder of artsATL) and to tell the stories of talented musicians, such as The Shadowboxers and Ellie Golding’s keyboard player. I’m a patient listener, a curious inquirer and a creative schemer. I like to think that I give people, stories and images some wings to catch a flight and be noticed by MORE in the hope of BETTER.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like best: the weather, the southern friendliness, the potential for novelty and growth in a far-from-saturated artistic market, the snow days off, the relative spaciousness and lush greenery, the diversity of the people.
What I like least: the traffic, the under-developed public transportation system, the limited investment in the arts.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lolilucaciu.com
- Phone: 334-447-1197
- Email: lolilucaciu2005@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @lolilucaciu / @loliluphoto
- Facebook: Loli Lucaciu / Loli Lucaciu’s Photography
- Twitter: @lolilucaciu
- Other: emorycreates.wordpress.com
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
