Conversations with Aira Beth Escala

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aira Beth Escala.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My whole life I have been drawn to the arts; drawing, painting, anything that could be artistic caught my attention. Because of my interest in any and all art, I started modeling back in 2016 where my curiosity for photography started to take, and the longer I modeled the more it grew and took hold. When I wasn’t busy modeling I found art in whatever I could in everyday means, especially in the kitchen.
Cooking was a different form of art itself and I was invested. Taking whatever cooking jobs I could, and eventually that led to the position of sous-chef at a restaurant. Cooking art into existence one dish at a time. However, the burn out I faced from overwork, no appreciation, and the aggression from the environment led me away to behind the camera. It was May 2024 that I finally caved and found my passion in photography. Once I found how much joy it brought me and how much fun it is behind the camera, I began to pivot to focus solely on being a photographer instead of being a model or sous-chef.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There has been plenty of ups and downs on this path that I have taken. Back in 2021 after the pandemic happened I had to sell my camera to make ends meet. But what hurt the most to me was when the restaurant I was sous-chef of closed down. The main outlet I had for art was no longer an option, so in hopes of at least building a portfolio to gain experience from behind the camera, as well as getting my art serotonin, I began to take on projects for free. Once I found my footing in the industry from behind the camera, I was able to build connections which helped allow me to grow.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
First and foremost, I am an artist. I believe in letting the creativity flow in whatever outlet I can find, be that: modeling, cooking, photography, drawing, or editing pictures. At the current time I am most known for and specialize in photography after working so hard to build the connections I have this past year. What am I most proud of? I would have to say that I’m most proud of my ability to go past my comfort level. I have become a rather introverted person throughout my life, and this past year I had to force myself to flee the zone of comfort to reach out to others in order to build my career up. What sets me apart from others…this is definitely a tricky question. I personally would like to say my ability to remain as versatile as possible, for example, when it comes to choosing the modeling positions, the editing of the pictures, choosing a theme for shoots, I try to remain as free flowing as needed in hopes to spread joy in this line of work.

Any big plans?
For the immediate future, the plans are relatively simple, I must admit. I have my first art gallery coming up which is exciting and hopefully will help open more doorways for my career and allow more opportunities for more galleries to occur. After that I plan on acquiring more equipment to further enhance the outcome of projects such as new lights, new lenses, even a new camera. I suppose the overall plan in general would also include meeting new people who also enjoy art, build even more connections, see how far I am able to grow and go, and hopefully bring smiles to people far and wide with my photography.

Pricing:

• For inquiries for prices I do ask that I be emailed at [email protected] as prices do vary depending on location, equipment, time, as well as other variables. Thank you for your interest in advance.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shotsbyxiu/
• Other: [email protected]