Growing up I always knew I would go to grad school. I just wasn’t sure for what, but it was important that I go. I dabbled with the idea of math, then biology, finally settling on neuroscience.
I like to consider myself a very well-rounded individual. I have done theater, gymnastics, and dance. I have directed shows, painted, sculpted, run multiple organizations, and tutored math. The problem with all this was I had no direction. I liked too much stuff! (note: I never once said I was good at all this stuff…)
Then one obsession started creeping into my life.. It all started when I studied abroad in Australia. I purchased the cheapest point and shoot anyone could have ever gotten. You had to compose slightly off from the view finder because the view finder was not positioned correctly above the lens.
I’m confident that it was partly how totally awesome Australia was, but my spark for taking pictures of everything took over! I shot over a million bad pictures in Australia with my terrible camera.
When moving back to the states, Washington DC, I decided I liked photography and decided to get a slightly better crappy point and shoot. That’s when a friend of mine decided she wanted to be a model. Seeing her already taken pictures by one of her friends, I arrogantly announced that even though I had never shot a model and only had a crappy camera I would do a better job!
The images were just atrocious! But they were better than her other shots…
I stopped shooting everything and started only shooting people who wanted to model for me. It was a new version of my obsession!
Before I knew it I was dropping lots of money on a real camera and lights.
Washington DC is a great place for politics, but fashion photography just doesn’t exist there. So, when I was accepted into a school in Toronto for my neuroscience masters, aside from being very interested in the research and excited by my new adviser, I was fascinated by the idea of being in a city with real fashion options.
Toronto was so different from DC, it was mind-blowing! There was great talent everywhere! It isn’t that people in DC were not talented, many were, but most of them were not planning on making a career out of fashion and many had never experienced the fashion world. I know I hadn’t until moving to Toronto.
Unfortunately for my photography, my masters was incredibly demanding and I almost never got to shoot. Despite this I managed to slowly get a better idea of how fashion works and even started getting myself published.
So, I decided I needed to do more of what I love and leave neuroscience for the fashion world. As of Aug 1st 2010 I am living in NYC doing what everyone should do: making my dream happen!
Thanks for reading!
Kira Bucca
very well set up sis, i liked all the pics as well
Kira,
Your photography was always great, but it has gotten even better.
Kira, without question your personal story and journey to photog-ism is one of the most interesting I have heard. For you it was Australia, for me it was Japan. My tardiness in processing images aside I really enjoyed our shoots. The whole post-processing thing just doesn’t click with me yet. Hope your life is all back to normal after the fire.
Very cool story. Done dancing, theater, and now getting back into photography. Though I will say, I’ve established my credentials in math, science and engineering.