Meet Aira Beth Escala

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aira Beth Escala. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aira Beth below.

Hi Aira Beth, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I was born and raised for the first 12 years of my life in the Philippines. During those fundamental years of my life I grew up in a poverty area watching while other children were initiated into gangs as early as 9 years old all while I clung to what small pieces of naivety I could as well as hoping I could remain ignorant of the most likely outcome my life would have from residing in such a poverty stricken area.
Thankfully I was granted a new life in America after my mother got married, however that came with different hardships. Ranging anywhere between raising my younger siblings while my mother tried to relive her 20’s to the massive fallout I had with her. I dealt with having a racist step-father which did not help with how I viewed myself nor my heritage but that allowed me to embrace my origins more openly after having to hold back for years now that I am in my 20’s. After being the main caretaker to children while I myself was a child I have learned to truly appreciate and not rush growing up and taking time to find my partner in life.
Basically, when I was dealt a crap hand in life time and time again, I learned to roll with the punches and stay standing in the end. I was not about to become another statistic, but I would take life and make what I wanted from it. Trying my best to be proactive and not just reactive.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Art is one of the most important things to me in life. Be it drawing or modeling, art brings me serotonin. And like any other human, I chose to chase that serotonin which led me to modeling, and from there I delved deeper into the world of photography.
I was able to learn some knowledge of photography from some of the artists that I am friends with and was inspired by, and from there I got sucked into a rabbit hole. I would spend hours learning about what it was like on the other end of the camera after being the center focus of one for so long, and I was hooked.
Luck was on my side and allowed me to start the business that I have today as a photographer under the handle of ShotsbyXiu. Photography is a large passion of mine, but so is the extra art on the side, editing and themes. Being able to have a vision so vivid, and being able to obtain it by angles, lighting, and camera setting adjustments? Absolutely magnificent.
Being able to bring to life different visions that I or the models have is a large part of why I do what I do.
Located in the Kansas City metropolitan area, I drive to locations to achieve the perfect shot that I envision and then enhance the photo using a little bit of camera magic.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three skills that truly helped me along my journey of photography would probably have to be the three that I use the most to this day.
Top skill in my opinion that I use the most is being able to rely on my charisma and friendly nature to build and nurture connections among the photography scene. This is crucial and definitely something that all aspiring artists (be it for photography, modeling, music, all artist really) should either learn to build or work on to ensure smooth progress while growing your name/brand.
Skill number two, but no less important than number one, would be to view the photography scene as a whole, as a community, not something divided like others are your competition. I understand that it’s not easy, but this is one of the things that allowed me to feel free in what I do. Being able to treat other people in this scene, especially other photographers, as a member of one big community as opposed to that of my competitor has not only helped open doors for me but allowed my voice to be heard by many. This brought forth collab opportunities and it also gave me the room to connect with artist who hold genuine intent and love for the craft. Instead of trying to tear others down we should always build each other up, this is something I believe in strongly and practice daily and it shows in my work and connections.
The third main skill will be the knowledge of how to work the camera settings to benefit you the most. This is a more technical skill and it is one that I struggled to grasp at the very beginning as every shoot is different, but once I was able to fully utilize this skill my photos continued to improve. This is a skill that is easily teachable, sure, however when starting out it doesn’t feel as such. I am thankful for the help and patience of other photographers that have been teaching me more about camera settings and chances are something will come along where I’ll need to learn more and I know because of skills one and two that I will be able to rely on my community to provide me the help when I need it again.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

I feel as though out of all the questions this is the easiest. My ideal client is a relatively simple person to come by and most clients I work with are my ideal clients.
Someone who chases after visions and will do what’s needed to fulfill those visions is a top quality to have. I have had models willing to jump and ruin their makeup for a vision. I have had a model sitting in a lake for a vision. And the main thing they had in common is my top favorite quality for a client to have, the belief in me and my vision.
And a cherry on top of that would be if the model/client is used to the modeling scene, if not a professional. Someone who changes their expressions and is able to bring life to the lens. Someone who can read the vision, read the vibes so to speak, and follow the motions for that and give emotion to the photos instead of coming off cold like there is no love for the beauty of art and the craft.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @shotsbyxiu
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits

All images are taken by me and all models are listed below:
Sloane
Star
Maria
Scarlet Ghoulore
Nicole Gormic
Kamesha Kimbrel
Daemon Ritus
Maya Rue
Kay The Fairy