If you lurk in the corner of Instagram that's filled with creatives or makers, are an avid reader of Rolling Stone, or you just loved that Keds commercial with Taylor Swift, then you know Sarah Rhoads—or at least you know her work. Sarah is one half of We Are The Rhoads, an L.A. based photography studio that she runs with her husband, Chris. We talked to her about collaborating when your business partner also happens to be the dude you love, overcoming feelings of inadequacy, and of course, photographing the likes of Father John Misty, Carrie Brownstein, and Vince Staples (you can keep track of all those shoots by following We Are The Rhoads on Instagram). Here's Sarah.
"I grew in Illinois in a suburb outside of Chicago. When I was younger, I would have told you I wanted to be a Broadway performer. It sounds hilarious, but I was a professionally trained dancer. I danced 40 hours a week and went through vigorous training for ballet and jazz, and I loved the rhythmic emotional part it brought out in me.
But when I was a freshman in high school, I lost my dad suddenly in a plane accident. That reframed how I thought about the world and what I wanted my life to look like. All I had of my dad were photographs and my memories. But memories fade, so photos were what kept me connected to him and to the things I was afraid I would forget—like the creases in his face when he would smile—and so I came to cherish them.
That’s what initially got me curious about the photographic medium. Around that time I went to learn the darkroom, and I saved up my babysitting money to buy my first SLR camera.
On Embracing Her Calling
The technical aspects of photography never came naturally me, but I loved the freedom that the camera gave me to step into someone’s world and explore it with them.
So I fell in love with photography when I was 16, but back then, I wouldn't have told you I wanted to be a photographer because I felt so limited by the lack of technical knowledge I had. I think I was too scared to pursue it at the time.
Now I understand that you need to step into that fear every day, as cliché as that might sound. Getting to where I am now took a lot of that. It’s an exercise and a discipline, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes to do it every day. Because it is scary when you don’t feel qualified, but that has been a lot of my career—not feeling qualified but doing it anyway. That’s step one. It takes so much vulnerability to be creative.
On Love + Marriage [+ Work]
In college, [when we met], Chris was a musician and he was touring a lot and playing with big bands as a bass player. That was his passion, so we didn’t end up officially collaborating until later. But he was the first person who really helped me work through things that were really perplexing me about photography. He’s very technical and good at taking things apart and putting them back together. That’s not the way my mind works—i’m more of an emotive shooter and work off of intuition and feel. He would learn something and then teach it to me in a way that made sense to me.
We started intentionally collaborating once we were married and in Seattle. At the time we were still totally broke artists but we were like, ‘Let’s really give this a whirl.’ That was 2008, and even then it was just [under] my name: Sarah Rhoads. We started We Are the Rhoads in 2009 when Chris stopped touring, and we threw ourselves full-time into it together.
Our lives are so enmeshed with what we do, with our work, with creating things that we love with photography—it’s an outpouring of who we are. When Chris and I shoot, we’re constantly doing this dance. We both have a camera and there’s an energy shift happening. We’ve learned how to do that dance over years of working together, and it definitely affects the outcome. We’ve both done projects solo, and we’re so much more dynamic when we’re able to work together.
On Work-Life Balance
In the beginning, we were living out of a shoebox apartment in Seattle and our office desk was in our living room and the work never shut off.
It takes everything to start something from nothing. That’s just part of the reality. Those first few years, we really were working 120 hours a week. It was stupid. But we gave it everything because we believed in it and we loved—and still love—doing it. At the end of the day, if you’re doing something you love, it’s going to take up more mental space than say, a standard 9-to-5.
Now our hard work has allowed us the ability to set up boundaries so we have that balance. We’re those total weirdos that can spend copious amounts of time together and still love spending time with the other person, but it’s important to shut off the work.
As of six years ago, we moved our work outside of the home so it’s now in a place where we have to physically go to work and then physically leave work. And we also try not to take shoots on the weekend if we can avoid it. We know we have to take time to play and we’re now super intentional about doing that.
On the Huge Wins
The first big one that comes to mind is a shoot we did for Keds in Montauk, N.Y. with Taylor Swift. It was a difficult one to land in the sense that we had to be vetted by a lot of different people. But then the end results, everyone was stoked with. [Celebrities] aren't always so generous with themselves, and we were able to make something great with her.
But the best projects in my mind aren’t always the sexiest, they’re the ones that you have little breakthroughs on—the small editorial [shoot] where I learn something amazing about light or I try to do something new that I don’t think is going to work and it ends up working. It’s always the little things that end up making the big ones."
Give us an idea of your daily routine.
There is no such thing as a “typical” day when you’re a freelance artist, but when we're not on set this is a fairly accurate account of a day for me.
6:55am - Alarm goes off and I turn my phone off airplane mode, which is what I leave it in at night when I’m sleeping.
7am-8:30am - I bring River into our bedroom and all of us cuddle in bed together for a little bit. It’s one of my favorite times of the day. Next, we throw together a quick breakfast of eggs and toast or oatmeal and coffee. I’ll typically look through (but not necessarily respond to) email on my phone at this point to get a read on how our day is shaping up. I’ll also probably peep in on today’s New York Times headlines and take a few seconds to cruise through Instagram. River’s nanny arrives and I hop in the shower.
9am – I use this time [before work] to read/journal/pray and meditate, which helps set my day into motion. If I don’t have a lot of time, I’ll read a snippet from Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, a book by Mason Currey. It gives a rough short synopsis on how different artists through history have worked through their processes. I find it offers me a different way of thinking through my own process. Othertimes, I'll read a chapter in whatever book I’m on at the moment. And then I usually like to take even just five minutes to journal. I have this, and it's the best, quickest way to feel gratitude around the little things that happen in your day to day.
10am – I’m in the office (which is in our backyard studio) by 10am every day if not sooner—that’s when our employee and our interns arrive as well. I typically start off my day by responding to necessary emails since our agent and a lot of the people we work with are based out of New York so they're on East Coast time. They're are typically pretty antsy by 10am PST, so I try and send off any urgent messages.
10:30am – Get my employee and interns sorted on daily tasks so that I can really dig into my own responsibilities for the day.
11am - A day in the office is always different—I may be editing images, brainstorming ideas for executing on an upcoming shoot and making a mood board, choosing locations and castings for upcoming projects, talking to producers, or talking to our agent multiple times a day if we are working on several projects at once. If it’s a slower time, we’ll use it to update the website or update our printed portfolio.
1pm - I go and feed River and spend some time with him. Chris will usually make lunch or we'll step out to lunch together.
2:15pm – Back in the studio again. The responsibilities in the office change daily, but typically we have at least one conference call a day for upcoming projects we may be bidding on or calls with our crew for projects in the works.
5pm – We're always out of the office by 5pm. Since having a kid we've really been pretty firm on [that] when we're not working on set. I used to work late into the night (10 to 11pm nightly), but when you have a child you're forced to become much more careful with your time. I try my best to use the 80/20 philosophy, so I ask myself, “What 20% delivers 80% of the results?” and spend my time on that 20% things as much as possible.
5:15pm – We take River on a nightly walk around the block or go up to Griffith Park and hike on our favorite trail. This walk has been one of the many grounding things that has been wonderful about having a child—babies force you to slow down and enjoy the little things together. Plus, there is something so therapeutic about ending our day with the setting sun.
6:30pm - We start a bath for River, read him a book, and I feed him. Chris and I like to do his night routine together whenever we are both available. Once River goes down, I wash my face (I use and love all of Aesop's face products) and we start cooking dinner.
8pm – We usually eat dinner outside on our patio or in front of the tele when the weather isn’t great. Then we typically cozy up on the couch and let our brains “veg out” by shamelessly looking through Instagram while also figuring out what the heck we want to watch on Netflix, Hulu, or HBO. We typically settle on Bill Maher or John Oliver, but we are eagerly awaiting when Game of Thrones comes back on!
10pm – Go upstairs and read in bed for a bit until we fall asleep. We’re parents now and go to sleep fairly early during the week since we’re never guaranteed a full night's rest. Somehow though, on the weekends we still end up staying up till 1am.
The single piece of advice you’d give to your 21-year-old self?
You’ll get there. Be patient with yourself and don’t concern yourself with the thoughts and opinions of others.
The one person you’d love to photograph, alive or dead?
Can I pick two? David Bowie and Patti Smith.
Biggest professional pet peeve?
Laziness, an over-inflated ego, and tardiness. I find all three to be really unattractive qualities in most everyone. Conversely, I find that hardworking, humble, and timely people are the best kind of people to surround myself with professionally.
The strongest woman in your life?
My grandmother who passed away a few years back. She was raised with next to nothing on a farm in Oklahoma during a time when women had no rights. When she was pregnant with their third child she found out her husband, my grandfather, had a severe case of multiple sclerosis. My grandmother had to work, raise their three children and care for her handicapped spouse. All the while she kept her integrity, her spirit, and her wits about her. She was one of the most grounded, feisty, and smart women I’ve ever encountered.
The one thing you don’t leave home without?
My Leica Q. It's my “everyday pocket camera”—it goes with me everywhere when not on set.
What albums do you have on repeat right now?
I’ve been loving this gal Alexandra Savior. I’m also digging Local Natives' latest album and LP’s new album Lost on You. Washed Out and Beach House are on our work playlists pretty regularly and they never seem to get old!
Best kept L.A. secret?
Little Dom's has a little coffee shop connected to it that a lot of people don’t know about. Everyone knows about the main part of the restaurant, but the back counter is where the magic is. They have the best black coffee in town and the pastry chef makes fresh fruit foccacias on the daily that will rock your world.
Although it’s not really a secret anymore, I love going to the Rose Bowl Flea market the second Sunday of the month for wonderful tapestries and other treasures.
What was Father John Misty really like?
He is eccentric and interesting in the best way. Josh is very well read—there wasn’t a television in sight in his whole place. His home smelled of coffee, cigarettes, and there were open books everywhere you looked. He’s a fascinating guy who is funny, self-deprecating, and self aware.
And finally, what do you hope to accomplish in the next five years?
I hope to sharpen and hone my vision in the visual medium through both print and film, and be an even better communicator of that vision, as that is half the battle when making anything that involves collaborating with others. I would like to learn how to be a bad ass, momma, wife, and creative all at once. I feel like I’ve got a lot to learn in this department being so new to the momma thing!
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