This is a new weekly series where we feature our incredibly talented Adolescent members and their work! Sign up here to join the Adolescent Membership and be part of the @ family!

This week, our Adolescent Member Crush is Jamie Pearl, a Seattle-based photographer with an affinity for portraiture. Jamie has traveled all across Europe, documenting people and places as she goes. She’s been published in The Messy Heads and Project Girl Gang. Read below to learn more about Jamie’s travel adventures and her favorite photo she’s ever taken!

Adolescent Content: Why were you drawn to portrait photography?

Jamie Pearl: Each human face is so unique, [and so] each photograph is different—[that’s] fascinating to me. I love capturing portraits that reveal the depth and eccentricities of people.

Adolescent: How does traveling affect the style or subjects of your work?

Jamie: I’m really grateful that I have had opportunities to travel these past few years… I have become more interested in fashion because of the high-fashion environments I have been lucky enough to spend time in, like Paris, Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, and Berlin. From late-night food runs with friends to pleasant days drawing in the park, I found a lot of beauty in creating images that represent memories. 

Adolescent: How does being located in Seattle affect your photography?

Jamie: The climate and conditions of Seattle have definitely affected the way I shoot. Because it is so dark and the days are so short in the winter, I definitely find myself shooting a lot of studio work and flash/nighttime work during this [season]. However, in the summer, when it is incredibly beautiful in Seattle, I often try to use the sun to influence my work, whether that be through harnessing shadows or capturing shots in golden-hour light.

Adolescent: What’s your favorite photo you’ve ever taken?

Jamie: That’s hard. Somewhat surprisingly, the photo that first comes to mind isn’t a portrait—it’s actually a flash shot I took of some flowers in my neighborhood against a summer sunset. It was the first of an ongoing series about perspective that I’ve focused on a lot for the past six months or so. The photo is simple, but the colors really strike me and it holds some personal meaning to me, as I’ve always been enamored [with] flowers. It represents the neighborhood in which I grew up.

Adolescent: Do you ever feel pressured to create work specifically for social media?

Jamie: I honestly wouldn’t say I feel pressure. If I have photos that I’ve recently shot that I like, I post them. If not, I don’t.