JONATHAN CHERRY: What gets you up in the morning?

SIDNEY LO: My job, Blue Bottle coffee, and lately, StarCraft II.

JC: Are there any emerging photographers inspiring you at the moment?

SL: I don’t follow upcoming photographers too much, but I dig some photographers on Flickr. If I had to name names, it would be Lukasz Wierzbowski, Nastya Tailakova, and Noah Kalina.

JC: What is your current project all about?

SL: I recently completed a series for a seasonal gallery/food event in New York called Something I Ate; my contribution is entitled Sometimes When We Eat, We Eat Alone.

JC: What draws you to portraits?

SL: Meeting new people, creating narratives, and knowing I can become a different person each time I work with a new subject.

JC: How do you find juggling personal & commercial work?

SL: It’s easier to execute but more difficult to wrap my head around it philosophically. I think there should not be two separate categories, but that’s because I want to generate my work, commercial and personal, under one style. 

Once I learned a bit more about business interactions, contracts, etc. it became more straight forward and rewarding to do commercial work. I always try to incorporate my own personality into the work. I’ve also gotten really good at saying “no” to certain offers and it’s freed me up to approach work that suits my photography.

JC: Any advice to recent photography graduates?

SL: Drop out? (Haha no, just kidding.) Get a job, never settle or make decisions because you feel like you have no other choice, say “no” a lot more than you say “yes,” and be patient.

JC: Favourite tree?

SL: The sequoia sempervirens.