2002-2012 | Gallery G – Inye Wokoma • Artist

Shifting Focus | Magazine Editorial

Colors NW Magazine | 2003

I first met Naomi Ishisaka, the editor at ColorsNW Magazine, at Catfish Corner, a soul food restaurant at the intersection of Martin Luther King Way and E. Cherry St. As I waited for her to arrive I went over and over in my head what I might say. I had been following ColorsNW Magazine ever since I discovered them on a local newsstand in the spring of 2001. I loved the high production quality and their focus on stories about communities familiar to me.

Even without any formal experience shooting editorial work, I felt confident and hopeful they might give me

an opportunity at some point. I made a point to reach out to Naomi via email and phone consistently, every couple of weeks, over the previous 2 or 3 months. She’d let me know that they had a staff photographer, but would keep me in mind for the future. Nevertheless, I kept in constant contact. Persistence had worked in my favor in the past. My first professional photography mentor only called me back after I left 12 voicemails on his machine. I wanted to be at the top of Naomi’s mind.

It was sometime in July when Naomi agreed to meet. I sat in a booth at Catfish Corner, flipped through my portfolio, and practiced what I might say. I don’t recall the specifics of our conversation, except that it was pleasant. I shot my first stories for the August 2001 issue of ColorsNW Magazine. For the next decade my professional work would be almost exclusively editorial photography, mainly as staff photographer for ColorsNW Magazine and assignments for other regional publications, nonprofits and commercial clients. The rigor of this work would influence my personal creative output, both in content, process, form, and aesthetics.