Co-Written with Asha Abdul

Sometimes it’s a challenge to peek from behind your camera and answer questions about your practice, but on a laid back Sunday evening in New York City, CRWN Muse Camille Shaw didn’t let her reticence to chat with the Live crowd stop her.

Shaw received her degree in Marketing and minor in Photography from the University of North Florida. From there, she took a leap. In what seems like a lighting fast trajectory, Shaw picked up her southern heels, settled in New York City, took a bunch of odd jobs before finding her current profession as a Social Media manager for a Mental Health brand, and jumped headlong into commercial photography after one lucky opportunity from a friend. Talk about a whirlwind. Her takeover with us was a dazzling mix of personal favorites from her commercial portfolio—which boasts one of our favorite brands Baby Tress!

During her time as our Muse, the crowd went bananas for a shoot featuring captivating images produced for Black Girl Church: “an award-winning short documentary and account portraying the intimacy and reality of beauty supply stores”. The images feature six stunning models of diverse body and hair textures in a ultra-pink salon styling each other’s hair. Roller sets, braids, pin curls, waves and natural curls all on parade.

The Black Girl Church editorial catapulted all the way to Teen Vogue, making more waves for textured black hair and “hairstories” in the mainstream beauty industry. Shaw calls this feature, “a milestone for my life.”

During our Live interview, Shaw sunk her teeth into questions from the audience about finding your voice and space as a new creative out the gate. Her advice? “Say yes to anything.” “You sometimes have to do things you don’t want to do before you can get picky, and opportunities tend to present themselves in the most uncommon places,” from the photo assistant role you nabbed on a random set to being an extra on a Big Gay Ice Cream shoot you found on Craigslist. Shaw’s key is to try everything and to prioritize free and creative time while away from the grind of the day job. “I really don’t like to over schedule my weekends. Once it’s Friday at 6:00 p.m. and I leave the office, it’s me time.”

When balancing the highs and lows of working commercial photography Shaw also gave us a few tips to help your mental state and capacity while producing in a high-intensity creative environment photography:

Remember that when on a team, you are helping someone build their vision, not yours.
Keep in mind that everyone has their own specific sacrifice for the project. It’s a team effort!
The finished product will be something to be extremely proud of; so keep that same energy throughout the entire project!

You can send booking inquires or follow along with Camille’s adventures all over the Gram here!