We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Winnie Au a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Winnie, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My parents instilled a strong work ethic and high expectations in me from a young age—and they continue to do so today. As a first-generation Asian-American, I wasn’t raised to be creative or artistic, but to work hard. Getting straight A’s was the baseline expectation, not something to be rewarded. They always pushed us to aim higher.
Even with straight A’s and a full schedule of extracurricular activities, it often felt like there was always more I could be doing, and more I could be doing better. It was frustrating as a child. But now, I understand and appreciate that they truly believed in me. They knew that if I applied myself, I could achieve great things.
As an adult, I’m grateful for this work ethic. As a working artist who has met many other creatives through my photography, I’ve noticed a common thread among successful artists: they all work incredibly hard and are deeply passionate about their craft. I believe that both work ethic and passion are essential for building a successful career in the arts.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an editorial, commercial, and fine art photographer based in New York City. I specialize in photographing people, animals, food, and the spaces where they live. As an endlessly curious person, photography has allowed me to explore the world, meet new people, and discover new things every day. It’s always exciting, and I never know what to expect.
I photograph a lot of artists, small businesses, and creatives, and I love getting to peek into the lives of so many different types of worlds. I’m someone who wishes she had the time to have 10 careers but photography is the closest thing to letting me try a little bit of everything. I love telling stories about people, and I find humanity to be endlessly fascinating. I’ fortunate to work with incredible clients including the New York Times, Elle Decor, Coca-Cola, Netflix, and American Express,
Another passion of mine is animal photography. Growing up in rural Illinois with numerous pets, I’ve always had a deep love for animals. My photography explores our evolving relationship with pets, particularly dogs. Unlike my childhood dog, Lucky, who lived outside, today’s dogs are often treated like family members. They sleep in our beds and we base our vacations around them. My fine art work captures this shift, focusing on dogs as integral parts of modern families.
In recent years I have loved creating books in my spare time. I co-authored a city guide “Dog-Friendly New York”with Four&Sons magazine. And this year I released a new coffee table book called “Cone of Shame”. It features photographs of 60 dogs in bespoke cones, and it was a true joy to create. Cone of Shame and my other animal portraits are currently on display at Fotografiska Shanghai and The Momentary in Arkansas. They have also been exhibited at Fotografiska New York, Fotografiska Tallinn, and Fotografiska Stockholm.
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?
-Passion
-Work Ethic
-Mentorship
-Finding your voice
Everyone I meet who is successful first and foremost has passion for what they are creating. The test that I use is that you must want to do this thing so badly that you would do it even if there was no business model for it and nobody paid you to do it. It’s what you wake up thinking about and probably what you go to sleep thinking about. I don’t think you can make it without having the passion and drive to really keep you going. Work ethic can be developed and honed in whatever way works best for you. I was always very disciplined and basically worked 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for the first 5+ years of my career nonstop. Maybe that’s not for everyone but it worked for me.
And I can’t forget how important it is to find good mentors and learn from other artists in your field. I assisted many other photographers for years and years, and it taught me so much. I learned by seeing what they did right and what they did wrong, and it allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do for myself.
Adding a fourth one because this is probably the most important. If you don’t figure out your voice – what you want to say to the world and how you want to say it, it is impossible to communicate anything and stand out. So the best thing you can do (at least as a photographer) is to keep taking photos, keep making mistakes, and keep finding success, until you have really honed and molded your own style into what you want it to be. And don’t be afraid to break it all and start over again. And try not to look at everyone else’s work and get sucked into caring about what people think.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
As an artist who has been working 10+ years, I’m always looking for my next project and my next challenge. Finding time is the hardest thing and if anyone could create time for me, it would be hugely appreciated!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.winniewow.com
- Instagram: winniewow
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winnieauphotography/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winnie-au-1336a026
Image Credits
Photos by Winnie Au
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