We were lucky to catch up with Tina Somphone recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tina , thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
This is a tough one. I struggled with burnout a couple of times in the past few years. The thing about burnout is that it creeps up on you slowly, until it becomes an unbearable weight on your body and you just… collapse. I would say that recovering from a burnout can take an extremely long time because you’re just exhausted and unsure of how to address the many things that may have built up to the burnout. I think we live in a society where hustle culture and being “busy” all the time is accepted and normal. It’s absolutely okay to take breaks and give yourself time to recuperate. It’s much easier said than done, but since I know what it’s like to experience burnout first hand, I can feel the warning signs and can find ways to pause, breathe, and evaluate.
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?
Hi! My name is Tina Somphone. I am a cinematographer and photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia. I am also a queer, first generation Asian American with Chinese and Laotian heritage. Due to my love for dance and movement, I am currently training to become a future Steadicam operator. I want to continue to leverage camera movement to not only highlight dance, but other narrative forms. I find immense joy in being behind the camera in all sorts of ways whether it is participating in bringing a vision to life or capturing a forever moment. While I love doing cinematography, I also enjoy the process of working on other forms of image capture such as still photography or run & gun videography. At the end of the day, what brings me the most fulfillment is knowing I took part in helping bring a story to life or helped someone preserve important memories.
As a woman within the Asian-American and LGBTQ+ communities, I’m deeply committed to embracing intersectionality. I strive to support individuals from diverse backgrounds in any way I can, particularly those of the underrepresented and underprivileged. I hope to help forge one of the many pathways for others that want to advance in this career path.
I am extremely excited and honored to announce that one of my works has been selected to be on display for “Eyes on Atlanta”, an Asian Contemporary exhibition at Atlanta Photography Group. The exhibit will be happening from May 28th to June 22nd of 2024. Hope to see you there to support my work and the works of other local ATL photographers!
Another project that I am very excited about is “Kalimba.” It is a psychological horror short film/proof of concept for a feature directed by RPX Media’s Robbie Atkinson. It is currently going through festival circuits and I am looking forward to what the future holds for the project!
That being said, please do not hesitate to reach out through my Instagram or email if you are looking for someone to bring your vision to life or capture some forever memories.
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?
Community, adaptability, and resilience.
When I first started my journey as a creative, I felt very alone and isolated. I spent the past couple of years building solid friendships and community that I hold very dearly to my heart. Filmmaking is all teamwork and to refer to an earlier question about burn-out, shouldering everything on your own is one of the more sure-fire ways to get burned out.
I find myself as an extremely adaptable person. People, crew, gear, schedules, and other aspects of work will always change and cycle without warning. It’s important to be able to adapt quickly so as to not fall behind or to be able to come up with alternative solutions in different situations. Lastly, being able to withstand difficulties in this industry is vital. Hardships will take place in various forms such as not knowing what’s next, facing microaggressions in the workplace, or having a rough day at a job. When I feel like I am wavering, I take time to breathe and take care of myself. I also lean on my community, who I will always thank and have so much love for.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I left my full-time job at the camera rental house about two months ago to become a full-time freelancer. I consider myself a baby freelancer as this is the first time I’ve truly approached it full-time. I am taking it day by day, but it is a challenge to accept the unknown. It can definitely be a little scary and the process is something I am choosing to participate in. Imposter syndrome and the trap of comparison often creeps up, but I do my best to keep it moving because ruminating for too long can become detrimental and counterproductive. It’s not easy to navigate, but it is not an impossible feat.
Contact Info:
- Website: dropping in the summer 🙂
- Instagram: @tina.snaps
- Other: https://linktr.ee/tina.snaps Email: atl.tinasnaps@gmail.com
Image Credits
Kat Frazier, Young-Jae Kim, Hannah Chung, Dieu-Thao Duong, Michele Maserjian
