Meet Lexi Bakri

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

Lexi, thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?

In my training as a counselor, I took many courses on communication and these included lots of practice in seeing where the person you’re speaking to is at emotionally in order to adjust the way you communicate to them. There is actually a specific scale of human emotions with descriptions of each level. Learning about emotions and how they present is important in getting your communication across. As an example, if you’re crying and someone came to you and spoke to you with enthusiasm you probably wouldn’t respond to their communication. If someone talked to you with a more empathetic tone you’d be more likely to respond. While study of emotions is important, practical application of skills is more important. With this practice I understand how even a slight unintentional frown made while communicating something can be distracting and may even shut down the other person’s willingness to communicate. I also have seen how truly caring and being interested in a person can eventually dissolve unwillingness to talk, and lead to open and authentic discussions.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a mom of two and that is my most important job – with that said it’s so nice to still be able to create and be artistic in my work as a food photographer. I love using light to make food come to life and to add vibrancy, mood and overall vibe. When chefs and restaurant owners pour their heart and soul into making their product and then the photo of the item represents that – that’s the best. They put so much into making a successful business and deserve to have beautiful photos that really show what their restaurant or food is all about.
My goals for this year include honing in on videography skills, and I’d love to work with more hospitality and PR groups in NYC and NJ.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I don’t believe in niching down. I think a successful photographer will have an area they’re super strong in but also have knowledge of other types of photography that theyre interested in. When I got out of my comfort zone and learned how to do studio photography for e-commerce, I learned a lot and apply what I learned into all areas of photography. I was able to shoot products for an upscale quiet luxury brand and I’m proud to have that under my belt.

I do think it’s important to be fair and realize when you’ve made an error and do what you can to rectify it so that you deliver what’s been promised.

Learning never stops. After each shoot I look at what went well and what could be improved for next time and figure out how to get better at that.

How would you describe your ideal client?

My ideal client or work scenario is shooting for restaurants that makes beautiful food and wants beautiful photos of it. Open communication is always great – when a client can communicate what they want, what they like, what they don’t like we can work together the best way to get the most out of the shoot.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @thekitchenshoot