Life & Work with Philip Tran

Philip Tran

I had a good run for a while with a few bumps here and there. In June 2022, I stopped doing photography full-time. I felt like my work had become stale and uninspiring. I was pretty much photographing every wedding in a similar way – it became too calculated and to be quite frank, a bit boring. I wasn’t happy, and I wanted out, so I stepped away and began working a 9-5. While at this job, I realized that I really missed running my own business and doing my own thing, so after 4 months there, I decided to quit and I jumped back into photography. During the first few months, I took time to really evaluate the direction I wanted to go in. What do I enjoy photographing? How do I want to photograph things? What inspires me? What makes my heart sing? These are some of the questions I had to ask myself.

Since coming back, I’ve been building a brand-new portfolio of photographs that truly feel like me and reflect my sense of style. I now approach every wedding as an opportunity for me to create photographs that are unique to that day and to that couple, and that’s what makes all of this exciting and fun for me again. In hindsight, stepping away for 4 months was one of the best decisions I ever made for myself and my career. I absolutely love the direction that I’m headed in now. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m a self-taught freelance photographer that loves photographing life itself using mixed mediums (film and digital). I have a deep love for people, and I approach weddings with the perspective that life is beautiful & joyful yet fragile, complex, and emotional all at the same time. Weddings can be the best day for some couples, while for others, it may be incredibly bittersweet. Giving myself these reminders before every wedding brings everything down to a human level for me and puts everything into perspective. It’s a gentle reminder to myself that what I do is incredibly important, so I want to do it with the utmost care.

My style and my approach isn’t for everyone. My current work with weddings can be described as documentary with touches of intentional portraiture. I find that I work best with couples who want something different from what’s expected from the industry; couples who love off-the-cuff, raw, honest moments of their day, and those who embrace imperfection and allow me the flexibility to move & create freely. My hope for every couple is that when they look back at their photos 30, 40, 50 years down the road, they’ll not only remember how their day looked but, more importantly, how they both felt in that moment of time.

Skateboarding was a huge part of my life when I was younger. There was a huge skateboard culture in Mira Mesa, the neighborhood I grew up in. Everyday after school, all the skateboarders would meet up at the Mira Mesa Rec Center and skate until it got dark. There was always someone who would bring a fun box or a skate rail, and all of us would take turns one after the other trying to land our tricks. It was such a fun, carefree and supportive environment — everyone was always rooting for one another. I really enjoyed this part of my childhood and will always remember it. Good times.