Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Camacho.
Hi Emily, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Photography has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When we were younger, my sister and I would take turns with our mom’s camera — recording videos of ourselves making muffins, pretending we’re models in the yard, and documenting our time during roadtrips.
I’ve always been drawn to different compositions and documenting life as it’s happening. Over time my journey turned into conceptualizing different themes and ideas visually. My work for The Made Foundation is some of my favorite I’ve done — taking an abstract concept and turning it into something more concrete and digestible.
This has been a strength of mine especially when it comes to visual storytelling in the branding space. Every brand has its own personality, and it’s been really fun to dig deeper into that to create standalone visual identities.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been easy to get to where I am today. I think the hardest challenges to get through are when facing rejection, imposter syndrome, or burnout.
When I was first interested in photography, I wouldn’t dare to call myself a photographer. I didn’t feel “good enough” or like I was qualified to hold that title. Eventually I decided that if I wanted to really pursue this, I had to change my own identity around it. I honestly don’t remember exactly when it shifted, but it was something that I had to build comfort around when first starting out. Nobody’s going to believe in me if I don’t believe in myself.
This also plays a lot into facing rejection. There’s been so many times where I’ve gotten really excited about a potential project or opportunity that ended up falling through or not working out. In college, we had a really cool fashion magazine that would release a new volume each semester. I had applied to be a photographer each time — even having a friend that said she wanted me on her team. I never got accepted as a contributor. At the time, this was really discouraging. By this point, I’d established my photo style and felt really confident in my abilities to create. It still didn’t feel like my work was good enough.
I’ve had similar situations happen since then — being asked to be part of projects and then ghosted or a different photographer is chosen. It can feel really disheartening to feel connected to people and then ultimately not being chosen. I just try to remind myself that nothing that’s meant for me will pass me by and there’s always something that I can do differently to come out on the other side. Having gone through this, it’s made it easier for me to remove any personal meaning from rejection and redirect my energy into other areas.
Whenever I moved back to Nashville after college, I had to put a lot of effort into re-establishing myself in the community. I spent a lot of time networking at different events, following new people on socials to stay in tune with everything. I ending up meeting so many new people and filling my calendar to the brim. There was a lot of satisfaction in being busy and feeling so connected in my community. I wouldn’t have more than two days without doing something to build my business, or expand my audience. I signed up for mentorship programs, signed retainer clients, and was also working full-time at an office job. All of this together was such a fruitful period of growth, but as you can imagine — burnout quickly ensued. It took me a whole year of putting every free moment I had into each of these for me to decide it was time to slow down and re-evaluate my business. I took two months off completely — barely posting on socials, not really going to events or reaching out to anybody. Burnout is one of the hardest challenges I’ve dealt deal with because I had every desire to keep pushing, my body just wouldn’t let me.
Since then, I’ve focused more on sustainability and what I actually want my business to look and feel like. I’ve been a lot more intentional about the types of projects I’m working on and how I spend my time. I make things as easy as possible for myself to accomplish. Each of these challenges ebb and flow, but I feel much more equipped to handle them and move forward confidently.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a photographer and creative director exploring the space between identity, emotion, and visual storytelling. I specialize in closing the gap between perceived value & actual quality of a product/service by curating unique visual identities.
I have a strong eye for aesthetics and attention to detail, which allow me to quickly pick out what not only looks good, but also makes sense for a particular brand. Just because it looks good, doesn’t mean it’s working. And just because it’s working, doesn’t mean it makes sense. We see it all the time where brands under a specific niche will start to mimic each other. They see what seems to be working and adopt it as part of their own brand, only to become unidentifiable in their own space. It starts to feel inauthentic, and lackluster — ultimately eroding trust away from their audience.
I truly believe that perception is reality. Visuals are the first impression to your brand, they speak volumes before you have a chance to even speak. If I have to guess what an image is speaking to me, it’s not doing its job.
All of that being said, I think the work I’m known for most is creating those standalone images that truly tell a story. You look at it and immediately know what it’s trying to communicate. You know how you’re supposed to feel and you’re able to articulate that just by looking. I pride myself in creating imagery that speaks for itself.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I’m incredibly dedicated to growth in every aspect of my life — whether that’s for myself, my relationships, or my career. I always want to be growing and learning.
I think this has been really helpful in every challenge I’ve faced, it’s given me the strength to adapt in new environments and look at things from a growth perspective. If something feels challenging, it’s expanding my capacity. There’s always a way to move forward and use my experiences as a lesson to show up differently in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.epcam.pics
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ep.cam
