Get to Know the Photographer: Rebecca Cho
Meet one of MODA Blog's photographers, first-year and extremely talented Rebecca Cho! She's done all of the Style Diaries photography here on the blog and much more. We decided to sit down to ask her a few questions.
Tell us a little about yourself!
My name is Rebecca, and I am a first-year student interested in studying Econ and possibly Statistics. I spent my childhood in Seoul, Korea and in a couple different towns in New Jersey, but I’d say my hometown is Fort Lee, New Jersey.
A fun fact: My mom asked me one day what I wanted my English name to be, and I chose to name myself Rebecca because it was my friend’s name. I was in pre-K. Can’t believe my parents just let it happen.
How did you pick up photography?
I got really into photography about two years mainly because my dad’s friend, who is a professional photographer, introduced me to it. He let me borrow his DSLR and lenses, and I had the pleasure of tagging along with him on weekend excursions to NYC just to leisurely take pictures of anything and everything. His enthusiasm definitely rubbed off on me, and I’m so grateful because photography encourages me to be more adventurous and to visually record my memories.
Where do you draw inspiration?
I follow so many Instagram photography accounts. Some of my favorites are Jannik Obenhoff, Beautiful Destinations, Jason Charles Hill, and Pursuit of Portraits. They give me ideas of places to shoot at and techniques for getting a really cool shot. I also like to follow photographers based in New York and Chicago so I can visit the places where they shoot.
Other than blogs, I draw inspiration from my surroundings. I usually have my eye out for cool places (either while just walking outside or scrolling through social media) because locations can give me a vibe that I then want to capture either in the moment or in the future as a place to revisit.
An ideal day of shooting would include…
Photo shoots give me an excuse to explore new places, so I imagine myself wandering around the city or my neighborhood in search of hidden gem areas where there may not be too many people. If I had a whole day to shoot, I’d go on a drive somewhere with a friend and stash the car with multiple outfits. Then, we’d reward ourselves with food.
Favorite author/musician/painter?
I’m always down to listen to some old Maroon 5 songs. Right now, I’m really into Charlie Puth’s album, Nine Track Mind.
What’s your favorite shoot you’ve ever done?
My favorite shoot so far was one I did over winter break with my friend, Terri. We spent the whole day hitting up dessert spots in NYC (we have a whole Google doc master list for food to try) and then we took the train down to the DUMBO area in Brooklyn. The sun was setting, so we had a 30-minute time frame to take pictures. We were running around frantically in below-freezing temperatures to take photos before our time was up, and we stopped when my hands got too numb to press buttons. I got to eat and travel and try something new with my best friend, so it was a pretty great day.
To see more of Rebecca's work, click here!
