SOPHIE HUR

On pivoting careers, establishing her “messy, tangible” style and persevering in the creative industry.  

A week after her 18th birthday, Brisbane-native Sophie Hur packed her bags to pursue her long-held passion for acting in New York. A few years later, and she now finds herself behind the camera, quickly making a name for herself in the music & editorial photography space.

Pivoting careers into an already-crowded industry is no easy feat, particularly in a place like New York. And yet, Sophie has already landed work with The Arctic Monkeys, Beats by Dre, Nylon, Milk and i-D (to name a few). Her eclectic portfolio—a collection of images from her time in studios, touring with musicians and living with her friends in Bushwick—has a raw and textured quality that has quickly become a core component of her style. 

I met up with Sophie to talk about her unexpected journey in the creative industry and some of the challenges faced along the way. 

**Disclaimer: Interview shortened for clarity. 

Mind starting with a quick rundown of your background? 

Yeah so I grew up in Brisbane, Australia up until I was about 18 years old—really loved it there. My mum’s Australian and my dad’s Korean, and I have two older brothers and a step brother.

In general I come from a pretty medical background, like one of my brothers and my dad is a doctor, my mum’s an optometrist, my grandpa’s a cardiovascular surgeon and my uncles are ear and eye doctors. Everyone’s a fucking doctor. 

Sounds like it. Did you feel any pressure to go into that field?

I mean, I actually really wanted to. In high school I worked really hard, did really well, and was interested in doing vet science. I’d always thought about doing medicine but I was like—do I really want to deal with humans that much? I would’ve rather worked with animals, which is what my brother was doing as a vet. So yeah I loved chemistry and biology but was very much split between science and art. 

When you say art, are you referring to photography? 

Actually acting was always the main dream way before photography. It was always “Sophie’s going to be the actor in the family” because I had been doing theatre outside of school since I was nine, and by the time I got to 15-17 years old I was spending around 8 hours a week at theatre companies and drama classes. So it was always a thing I wanted to do, but the unrealistic kind of thing. I also went to a top school in the state that was very much “doctors or lawyers”, a private school with a uniform skirt down to my shins and ties type place. It was an awesome school and I loved it, but very academic.

So when it came to choosing and putting in our preferences for university, I was like oh man I can't commit to vet science because I would have to move up north to this really boring town for five years, which is what my brother did. I just couldn’t fully commit to it. So I thought, ok I’m going to choose something in between: architecture. I wanted something that wasn’t wasting my academic score but was still kind of artsy. My whole family was like, “That is so random, but ok.”

So I go into architecture, did one semester, then my friend Yas messaged me and was like, “You’re the first person I’m telling this to but I got into this acting school in NY.” Immediately I was like damn it, that's what I want to do. Apparently I could still audition though, so I flew down to Melbourne to try out, got in, and next thing I knew I was like, I guess I’m going to do this now. 

So at what point did you start pursuing photography?

I was in the second year of acting school and I started dating this guy from London, and he was assisting Steven Klein. I didn't know who that was but my friend told me he was a massive photographer. So yeah I met this guy, we dated for four months, and at one point he recommended I get a film camera so I got a Canon AE-1. From there, I started it as a hobby and eventually ended up liking it more than my actual acting classes. And honestly, it’s not like I decided I didn’t like acting, it was more that I didn’t like my classes or the school in general. 

I eventually graduated from acting school, and when you graduate with a student visa as an international student, you get a year called OPT, which is basically a year where you can build and work here in the creative industries and build your visa case, and you can only choose one thing. I knew I had a year to build my case, and if I seriously wanted to choose photography I needed to commit to it right then and not even think about acting jobs and just try it. It was crazy—I don’t even know why I did it. I didn’t know anyone in the industry, but yeah that’s what made me just dive into doing it and start building my case.

What kinds of things were you doing to build your case?

I was constantly emailing people and ticking items off my visa checklist. I knew I needed publications and press, so I was like ok let me just try to get as many things published online or in little magazines. I was literally doing everything through Instagram. I wouldn’t have been able to be a photographer like so many people if Instagram didn’t exist, which is a blessing and a curse, but anyway. Reaching out to a bunch of stylists and models who were willing to work for free and just pulling together a shoot. I did everything for free, which sucks but it’s just the way it is. I seriously only started doing actual paid work more regularly like last year. 

Back then, I just had to cop it because I hadn’t studied it. So that’s what I did at the start basically. Just reaching out to a bunch of people, getting their pictures and getting it published. It’s extremely motivating. Every single day was like if I didn’t achieve something, I’d be stressed. So it was high level stress for a year but still it was so motivating. 

When you first started, did you have a clear vision of what you wanted your images to look like? 

That was such a headache to me. Sometimes I’d have this idea of what I wanted my photos to look like, and sometimes I’d be like, ugh, I want to be like that photographer or have that style. But then I’d not do it, or I’d try to do it and it just wouldn’t be the same. And for two years I was so frustrated with myself because I couldn’t figure out what my style was. I had so many different things I wanted to do. It bothered me so much, especially looking at other photographers having such specific styles. I’d think that my Instagram looked all over the place, and if a client looked at it they wouldn't know how their photos would turn out.

But just in the past year I’ve been fully indulging in scanning all my images, like printing and rescanning them, that’s when I finally felt like I was getting somewhere with my style. Eventually, people started sending me pictures and were like, “Oh this looks like your work” or “ I think you’d like this.” I was like, cool, I must be getting somewhere. Now, I’m very happy with where I am. I think I feel very comfortable with knowing exactly what kind of pictures I want to produce or what kind of artists I’m inspired by. It just took me so long. 

How would you describe your current style in a couple of words?

Tangible...messy...free, maybe?

Do you recall the first project where you felt a sense of legitimacy and fulfillment? 

This wasn’t paid, and this was so random, but it was probably when I got to shoot Porches. I had always really liked his look, and again it was the same thing where I had messaged this girl on Instagram who is now pretty “Instagrammy” but at the time she was just trying to make it as a stylist. Anyway, I just messaged her and told her I wanted to shoot Porches and she was down to join me. She got a bunch of stuff from Opening Ceremony, which she actually got in trouble for because she tried to return it all later. But that’s what I mean it was just so DIY, and then I emailed Porches’ manager who I then became friends with and he was like, “Yeah he’s in town just come over.” That was unpaid but I remember being like wow this is awesome, I get to shoot this guy who I really like and have these photos that I took. And the photos ended up coming out really nicely. 

Having a background across acting, photography, design etc., what do you think are some challenges people in the creative field commonly face?

I just think persisting can be so hard sometimes and being positive about progress, and not being so hard on yourself. Seeing a photographer who’s shooting something I've always wanted to shoot. Or sometimes, a client will reach out to me for me to shoot something and I’d think it’s my big break, and then they’ll go with someone else, and that person is on my Instagram feed. So it’s just so hard not to compare yourself to what everyone else is doing and to be like you know what I love what I do I’m just going to keep going and know something will come of it if I’m just positive about it and stick to my own lane. So I’d say that’s the hardest thing. Just having a positive mindset and always being determined.

What are some dream collabs or unchecked boxes on your list?

I have this excel spreadsheet where I'm trying to hone into more goals and people I’d love to work with--a lot of them are musicians or bands. Like my number one goal is to work with The 1975. I’d also love to work with Virgil Abloh on something, or Julian Klincewicz, he worked with Virgil a lot and did the latest Louis Vuitton campaign. He’s awesome you should look him up. Also Frank Lebon, he’s my biggest inspiration. He just did the James Blake video, you know “the way we flow” clip? It’s insane. He’s a director, and I’m obsessed with him. So to be in a gallery show with those two would be cool. 

Since moving to a city like New York, do you feel a sense of community here in terms of being surrounded by people in similar fields?   

Yeah 100%. I live with two of my best friends. They’re both actors, trying to make it in acting as well. All my other friends are also artists, literally all of them. Obviously I have some friends that aren’t but, for the most part, I feel like in New York they all get it. Being around artists, where a lot of my friends are also on visas, we all end up being in the same situation and it’s really nice. A lot of them are musicians too, so I get to go to shows and feel inspired and be around people who are doing what they love. Sometimes I think about all my friends here and it’s like, holy shit:

“Every single one of them is doing what they want to do, whether it's in the creative field or working in an office. There’s no difference they’re still doing what they want to do, and it’s just so awesome when you think about it.”

You can view more of Sophie’s work @sophiehur