Episode 177: More Than Pretty Pictures – Sofia Jaramillo

Episode 177: More Than Pretty Pictures

Interview with Sofia Jaramillo

Photojournalist turned outdoor photographer Sofia Jaramillo wants to do more than take incredibly beautiful photos, she wants to help diversify the outdoors through her work. We talk about how she got started in photography, why who’s behind the camera matters, how she’s broadening her portfolio to include filmmaking, and the benefits and pain-points of living in the small mountain town of Jackson, Wyoming.

Read the full transcript after the links + photos.

Banner image by Sofia Jaramillo

Find the episode below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you stream podcasts.

Featured in this episode: Sofia Jaramillo

Hosted & Produced by Gale Straub

A Production of Ravel Media

Sponsored by Subaru & Deuter

Resources:

• Featured in this episode: Sofia Jaramillo
  • Website
  • Instagram @sofia_jaramillo5
• Instagram post mentioned in this episode
• Organizations mentioned in this episode
  • Coombs Outdoors
• Ravel Media

Music by the Danica Dora and James Child licensed via MusicBed. Music also by Josh Woodward.

Sponsors and Discount Codes

• • Subaru: Learn more about the 2021 Outback Onyx at Subaru.com/Outback
  • Deuter

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Featured in this Episode

Sofia Jaramillo

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TRANSCRIPT

Note: This transcript was lightly edited and created using a transcription service. As such it may contain spelling errors.

Gale Straub – Narration:

I’m Gale Straub and you’re listening to She Explores.

Gale Straub – Narration:

When I first connected with photo journalist turned outdoor photographer, Sofia Jaramillo. She informed me that she wants to do more than just take pretty pictures.

Sofia Jaramillo:

And so I kind of realized like, okay, I’m not here anymore to take pretty pictures. I want my images to make change. And so if my images do both, that’s awesome. But if just at the very least, they make some subtle change.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Photos and videos have the power to change us. They’re a window into another world or a changed world. They have the capacity to be reality and potential all at once. In this episode, we’ll learn about the career of Sofia, a budding adventure photographer and filmmaker. We talk about some of the ways she’s is helping to diversify the outdoors through her photography and filmmaking, the influence of her home base of Jackson, Wyoming, and some of the ways she’s using her craft to pay it forward this year.

Gale Straub:

I’ve always been a fan of your work, but I started digging into a little bit of the background because I was curious about how you got started. And I saw that at least in your memory, the first photo that you’ve ever taken was of a lighthouse on a road trip.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yep. You got it. Spot on. Yeah.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Yeah.

Sofia Jaramillo:

When I was about, I was like 14 or 15, my dad took me on a college road trip and don’t tell him, like, I don’t know why it seemed a little bit early, but he’s like, we’re going to go to California, go to all the colleges. Like school’s really important for him. And so we were driving up the California coast and he lent me his Nikon point and shoot camera. It was like the first time using a camera ever. I didn’t really know what I was doing. And we went to this light house and I took this photo and I remember like looking at it in the back of the screen after, and in that moment, it just like clicked. I was like, okay, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. And somehow this photo, it like turned out miraculously, like really well, like it was using the rule of thirds. There’s like nice light there’s in lines. Like the colors are all great. And so I think I just got really lucky with the photo, but that was like kind of my first spark and interest in photography.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Well, I feel like there is though a bit of intuition that goes into that because you go to school and you learn all of these rules, but the intuition is what ends up mattering in the end anyway. Right?

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah, totally. And, um, my dad had like, ever since I was very young, I don’t know if it was intentionally or not, but he inspired me to like find work that I love. He was always like, find something that you love. So you never work a day. And he also was very supportive with like the arts when I was younger, I was actually just like journaling about this the other day and how grateful I am for it, because he was like my number one cheerleader with all of my art, whether that was like painting ceramics or he would sign me up for like painting classes in the summer. And I think a lot of that like played into my interest with photography and maybe some of that like instinct, like you’re talking about.

Gale Straub:

Where do you think that came from for him? Like why, why do you think he encouraged you in that way?

Sofia Jaramillo:

You know, I don’t know, like my dad, he is like kind of an amateur photographer. He loves taking pictures, but he also is just a big dreamer and he really supported like any of my dreams as a kid and really wanted me to succeed at whatever I did and totally believed that I could. And so, yeah, I think it was, it wasn’t necessarily about like photography, but just him seeing that I love to do art and wanting to support that.

Gale Straub:

No, that’s really sweet. It sounds like he’s a good dad.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Wow. He literally, at one point he had, um, a travel business and on his business card, it said like chief believer. That’s totally my dad

Gale Straub – Narration:

Listening back. I’d say Sofia is lucky in more ways than one. She caught a glimpse of the rest of her life at the age of 15. Of course her relationship with photography is always changing and growing. That will be evident over the course of our conversation, but still today, she looks back at a photo of that light house and says she still thinks it looks pretty good.

Sofia Jaramillo:

It just shows how far I’ve come. And that’s why I like looking at it

Gale Straub – Narration:

In college, I took a few darkroom photo classes and one of my favorite aspects was the critique – when we all nervously put up our creations on the wall and talked about them. I loved learning about my classmates through how they saw the world. I was curious what photos stand out for Sofia from her own portfolio that might be indicative of an inflection point in her career.

Sofia Jaramillo:

So I think they’re really pivotal photo in my career was when I was interning for the Jackson hole news and guide here, I interned under Bradly Boner who’s an amazing photo journalist. And he was such a good mentor. I think that was in 20, 2014, I think. But he gave me an assignment to climb of the Grand Teton. And shoot, and I got this one photo of, one of the kids who is participating in this climb towards the top. And I kind of remember that moment and like I was hanging off this cliff and like looking down and then looking at my camera and just being like, wait, I should be more afraid right now.

Sofia Jaramillo:

I was like, Oh, it’s because of my, I have my camera in my hand. Like, I feel much stronger and like powerful. And in this moment and that assignment and that image like changed all of my dreams because I realized that I could blend both photojournalism and adventure photography, which are like two big passions for me. So yeah. That’s one, what is that? What does that blending mean? Well, for me, it’s like, so I grew up in a small mountain town and I’ve always been outdoorsy and I love outdoor recreation, whether it’s like biking or mountain biking. And I had always taken pictures of that, but just for fun. And I didn’t really think it could be a career. And I was more so focusing on like photo journalism and kind of like hard news and storytelling in that aspect. And then when I took that image, I realized that I could shoot what I love in the outdoors, but also tell stories about it.

Gale Straub – Narration:

It was a turning point for Sofia, but she didn’t say goodbye to photojournalism. She took an internship position at the Associated Press in Mexico city to test the waters of another dream of hers being a foreign correspondent in Latin America.

Sofia Jaramillo:

It was a wild experience and it kind of w to be like Frank, it was like really scary. And I knew, and I knew that and like, my family is Colombian. And so that type of violence, isn’t like too far from me. And I, I like understand it and I’ve heard about it and it’s, it’s affected my family. Um, so I wasn’t super afraid going down there, but like the intern before me was murdered and, Oh my gosh, summer that I was there, there was a journey of photo journalists murdered in Mexico city. And it was like the first time that a photo journalist had been murdered in Mexico city, because it was thought of like, as a safe Haven before. And I covered that funeral and like, just learning about what happened to the family and himself and his friends and kind of just realizing like, Whoa, like maybe I want to go back to the States, like take pretty pictures. Like maybe that’s more of a job for me. Hm.

Gale Straub:

Yeah. Different kinds of risks to take on it, you know, in terms of like adventure photography versus that type of photo journalism.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah. And also I think it with adventure photography, I think it allows me to like see the light in the world and the people I photograph. And I didn’t always get that with photo journalism. It was pretty dark and heavy and telling kind of sad stories. And I just didn’t know if that I wanted that to be my impact.

Gale Straub:

And how would you describe your impact today?

Sofia Jaramillo:

I feel like that’s like more of a question for someone else, but I could tell you what I would want my impact to be. That sounds great. I think like I realized earlier, well, a couple of months ago, again, I was like journaling and writing down what my favorite shoots were from the last year when I first moved back to Jackson in 2018, my goal was kind of to build my outdoor portfolio and make sure that I had the work to get work that I wanted. And I feel like I have that portfolio now. And now it’s about making sure that I’m working as much as I can on work. That makes me feel fulfilled. And so I kind of realized like, okay, I’m not here anymore to take pretty pictures. Like I want my images to make change. And so if my images do both, like, that’s awesome. But if just at the very least they make some subtle change. Whether that’s like something as small as like someone reading an Instagram post and being like, Whoa, like, I didn’t understand that perspective before. And like, considering it or something bigger as in like my work gets athletes of color on to ambassador teams or gives them opportunity, or I do some volunteer work with Coombs, like my images help get funding for nonprofits that support BIPOC outdoors, then like, that’s the kind of work I want to be doing.

Gale Straub:

Hmm. Yeah. And I, I believe that I read fairly recently as well, that you’re really driven to move the conversation around diversity equity and inclusion in the outdoors beyond just representation. And as a photographer, you know, it can seem like representation is like one of the more accessible things as a photographer to be uplifting that, but there’s more than a photograph can do besides just showcase a certain type of person to the outdoors.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah, certainly. And I think what I mean when I say that is that I just get a lot of brands that reach out to me because they want to be more inclusive, which is super great, but I’m always trying to push them to do more and actually like take steps that give BIPOC the tools to become better athletes. And I also try to do that, like with my work. So for example, I can’t like talk super openly about it, but I’m working on a project with an outdoor brand. That’s supporting some women of color to get a mountaineering course and the brand is covering the mountain you’re in course, which can be like super costly.

Gale Straub:

That’s cool to think that there’s just like lots of different ways that you can advocate as a professional photographer and that there’s like the power of even just you being behind the lens to, you know, you see and hear about just like in Hollywood, all these, I guess an example would be, um, I was just like reading the New York times a little bit after the Christmas holiday and saw an article on this is I feel ridiculous bringing this up right now, but it was on like the Netflix show Bridgerton, which, um, is like Shonda Rhimes production and like multiculturally cast. But the photo of the crew behind the scene that was happening was like almost a hundred percent white. So it was just interesting to see that also to not see that really being addressed in the article, but just thinking about within the outdoor industry, the power of potentially going to a film festival and seeing a film through a Black or Latinx or person of color through their eyes, like makes a huge difference in terms of like what the end product is.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah, totally. I think, yeah. I just, I recently had a conversation with it was another interview and they asked me, well, what, like, how do you advocate for BIPOC? Like, what exactly are you doing? And I was like, you know what, me just being here and having these conversations is doing the work. And I think, you know, I try to go beyond that. And I definitely like volunteer with organizations and do some organizing myself with like my own crew. But there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t really see, like when the black lives matter movement started up again this year and became a big deal. I had a bunch of clients call me and I had so many conversations where many of them apologized for not listening to me for not when I had been advocating for like, including people of color and getting more people of color and shoots, getting more people of color on their rosters. And those conversations are really hard to have. It’s not like an easy thing and it is work. And I think like, especially as a person of color can get draining. And so sometimes it’s not just about the photos. It’s also about like a lot of the conversations I’m having behind the scenes.

Gale Straub:

It sucks to think that an aspect of your livelihood is draining, that that conversation is, is draining or that you weren’t heard and something this big had to happen for, for you to be heard in that way.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah. I think it’s definitely bittersweet. Like I’ve been frustrated and I’ve also like, I’m also really hopeful at the same time, you know, like I consider myself a woman of color, but I’m definitely white passing as a Latina. And I think that’s for sure privilege because of that, I feel like I need to use that privilege to have the hard conversations. So my friends who are Brown don’t have to,

Gale Straub – Narration:

We’ll hear more from Sofia about life in Jackson and the ways she’s using photography and filmmaking to push the industry forward – after this.

Gale Straub – Narration:

We’re back.

Gale Straub:

Is there an image that comes to mind for you that you’ve taken that’s indicative of the type of outdoor community you’d like to be a part of or that you’d like to see more of?

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah, for sure. I sent you two images. Could we talk about those?

Gale Straub:

Yeah. Great. Well, I’m just going to set to open it up on my email. Ooh, I love it.

Gale Straub – Narration:

The first image that Sofia sent me is of two of her friends on a break during a snowboarding session. They’re in the foreground, smiling and dressed colorfully — in contrast to the muted background of rolling, snowcapped mountains. They’re all lit up, like there’s nothing more important in the world than these two friends sharing time on the mountain together. Sofia describes its significance:

Sofia Jaramillo:

So this first image was a piece I worked on for Patagonia with two women of color from Jackson who are two of my best friends here. And we went out last winter. We were like, okay, we’re going to do this piece for Patagonia. We have no idea what it’s going to be about. And then when we were out, we totally realized like how different being together was for us then riding with other people that we do in this area. That was the first time I ever rode with an all group of female BiPAP. And so, I don’t know, just to be like to be riding down the Hill, like look to my left and see Sheena and look to my right and see Emily just like ripping down the Hills, like super powerful BiPAP women. That certainly meant a lot. And it made me realize, like, I think all of us, like how much we missed that for a lot of our lives. Because as a white person, you’re pretty often in the outdoors, surrounded by people like you, but as a person of color, that doesn’t always happen. And so when it does, it’s really special and those are the kind of communities like I want to be in more involved in and I want to help uplift and I want to make happen.

Gale Straub:

Hmm. And so beautiful image. And I love how the two women in the foreground are, they’re all lit up by light, but the background is a little bit darker and a little, it’s just like kind of creating this almost like the spotlight that’s on them and how joyful they look like they have the biggest smiles on their faces and it, yeah. It really just comes through the image. It’s beautiful.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah. Yeah. That was a cool moment. Cause like the clouds kind of split and lit them up. And I think a lot of what it’s about for us going out is like about our joy and just like relishing in that joy of being ourselves,

Gale Straub – Narration:

That joy, that joy can be dampened by microaggressions that come from ski culture. Sofia shared an example in a social media post that she wrote about the way people expect others to carry their skis.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Uh, one thing I think white folks may not understand is that as a person of color, when you go into back country, you’re not just thinking about, or when you’re skiing on a resort, whatever, you’re not just thinking about your turns. And you’re not just thinking about assessing like avalanche terrain, if you’re back country skiing, you’re also thinking about like implicit biases and how people perceive you as a person of color in that space, because you may appear foreign to them. And so when it comes down to those little word choices, like I was talking about, that’s why they’re so important. And that’s why they can hurt because people of color already kind of uncomfortable in that situation. And so any like little thing can really, you know, ruin their day or turn them off or maybe make them not want to ski. And so that’s something I’ve noticed.

Sofia Jaramillo:

And I haven’t really been able to put into a words for a really long time. And I was actually inspired by @BadGal_Brooky’s posts. Cause she like posted a picture of her carrying her skis. And she was like, take that Karen, like, I’ll carry my skis. However I want. And I was like, yeah, girl, like I totally freaking get that. Like I had so many friends and like people I know for years tell me like, Oh, if you don’t carry your skis, like with the binding behind your shoulder and facing forward, then you like, you look like a noob and you don’t look cool. And I don’t really like, I’m just trying to get to my car folks. Like I had a good seat. I don’t really care about how I’m carrying my skis. And so when people pointed out it can be hurtful because it it’s, you’re already feeling like you’re not supposed to be in that space. And then someone says something like that, you feel it even more.

Gale Straub:

Yeah, no. And if you see language like that, even just online, you might not want to even enter into that space or feel welcomed to even try to enter into it, let alone how you feel when you’re on the mountain and you hear that language.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Oh yeah. Certainly as like a Latina, I still feel like I have some trauma of not feeling super included in the ski community from when I was a kid. Like I started skiing at sun Valley to a really young age and I never felt really like I fit in and everyone like had all the nicest gear and I had weird gear that my dad bought me. That was all different colors. Cause like he didn’t know, I needed to like look cool, which I really didn’t need to look cool. You know? But still to this day I feel uncomfortable at ski resorts. Like because of that culture, because it’s not always inclusive.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Sofia volunteers with a nonprofit called Coombs Outdoors, which helps get youth on the slopes in a more inclusive way. The second photo Sofia sent is from her volunteering. It’s a closeup of a young Latina girl riding a ski lift. She’s sitting next to Sofia and looking straight into the camera. The look she’s giving the camera is almost conspiratorial, like they’re sharing a secret.

Gale Straub:

Why did you send me this second picture?

Sofia Jaramillo:

Okay. So the second picture is like super meaningful to me. And I think a lot of photography for me, it’s super emotional and it’s almost like subconscious. Like I’ll come back to an image and be like, Oh, now I know I took that. And it definitely happened with this photo because I volunteered the Coombs Foundation, sometimes taking photos for them. And the Coombs foundation supports Latinx youth in Jackson to get out on the Hill, like through education and financial support. And I realize, I don’t know, I just caught this young girl’s eye. And I realized that I kind of see myself in this image as a kid. And this is what I wanted as a kid. And that’s why like, as a young Latina growing up in a small mountain town, I did feel uncomfortable skiing. And I love seeing these Latinex go out on the slopes, celebrate their culture and just be themselves.

Gale Straub:

And it really, it really does look like she’s looking at you. It’s not like she’s looking in a honking camera lens. You know, that’s really close to her. Like it really looks intimate. Like she’s looking and see something in you too. Yeah, totally. Do you feel that it’s meaningful in any way that for them, that you’re there, you know, mentoring and helping these kids enjoy the slopes?

Sofia Jaramillo:

I mean, I hope so. It’s like, I think they’re just out there having fun. Like hopefully it’s meaningful in the long run when they’re older. Yeah. Like, again, it goes back to that joy. Like I just want to see them enjoying themselves and having fun on the slopes and if they like me around, that’s great. I do enjoy like speaking Spanish with them. And some of the other instructors and mentors don’t understand, it’s kind of fun.

Gale Straub – Narration:

I was curious about what it’s like living in Jackson I’ve passed through before and as an East coaster, I was a little intimidated by the small affluent mountain town.

Gale Straub:

What are some of the positives of living in Jackson?

Sofia Jaramillo:

I think one that comes to mind right away is all the inspiring women here. I really didn’t expect to find this incredible of a community of women athletes. Like especially when outdoor sports is like pretty dominated outdoor sports and outdoor production. And photography is like definitely dominated by men like white males. And there are so many bad-ass women here pushing the limits, just like seeing the grand doing double back, flips, running, like breaking all the records with running. And it’s super inspiring to be able to like photograph them and try to keep up with them.

Gale Straub:

It’s so different than where I grew up. So I just feel like it’s this like whole little ecosystem of opportunity in certain ways, you know, to be able to do those things. And it’s also a magnet for people who want to do those things, right?

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It’s definitely its own ecosystem for sure. And like there’s, there’s downsides and positives to that. Like I think with part of the reason that there are so many inspiring women is because there’s like a high bar of athleticism here, which is really cool to see, but at the same time, like that can be toxic to, you know, like mental health is important and slowing down is important. It’s good and bad for different reasons. I think as a woman of color can be like kind of lonely. And so my, my community of color here, which like to be very Frank is just like maybe three to four people. There are like a lifeline for me. And I don’t know if I would still be in the, in Jackson without them, but at the same time, like this community has been so helpful for me as well in terms of my career.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Like there are a lot of opportunities here. There’s a lot of opportunity to learn, um, as a photographer and an athlete. And there’s a lot of opportunity to be inspired. Like last year I got to photograph Jimmy Chin. I’ve been like, looking at Jimmy Chin’s work ever since I was like six years old, like I remember my dad would like show me his work and like take me to all of his films and to be able to go and take his portrait. Those are the kind of opportunities that happen here. And I was able to work with him on another production as an assistant and just being around like that level of, uh, photography and athleticism is super inspiring.

Gale Straub:

Oh, absolutely. And it’s provided some opportunity to work in film as well. Right. Cause I know that your training is in photography, but you mentioned when we did connect a month or so back that you’re really, really excited about your upcoming work and film.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah. So like, I’ll be totally frank. I feel like I’m such a beginner in film, but there’s definitely been a lot of opportunity here. Like I’m directing my first film about a fly fishermen and then this winter I’m working on, I’m working on two films, which is cool.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Sofia can’t go into details on the films yet, but she could talk high-level about one that’s upcoming.

Sofia Jaramillo:

It’s a film that’s sponsored by the North face and it’s kind of like a women forward film, like it’s led by mostly women and it’s BIPOC inclusive and it’s just kind of like, it’s really cool because it’s exact film that I’ve been wanting to work on. Like it it’s totally, the purpose is to like change up the norm of what ski film should be like and put people in those films that you don’t normally see. So yeah, I’m excited and also like nervous as well. Cause again, I’m like super new to it, but it’s fun to, after doing photography for so long, it’s fun to have that challenge of trying something new.

Gale Straub – Narration:

It’s exciting to think about Sofia’s evolution from telling a story through a photo, whether in her photojournalism or in her outdoor work to telling a story through moving images, through film.

Sofia Jaramillo:

A big part of it for me, and like wanting to explore film is that, as I said, like I’ve been taking pictures since I was about 15 years old. That was over 10 years ago and I kind of went through, you know, I love photography. It’ll always be my number one. I feel like I’m married to my camera, but you gotta do something new, you know, and you have to evolve. And for me that’s film and film is just super interesting. And I also am really curious about the impact of film versus the impact of images. Like I think my images have subtle impacts. Sometimes they have really big impacts, but I am hoping that with film as a medium, I can like reach more people.

Gale Straub:

Hmm. Do you enjoy watching short films? Like short documentary films?

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah, definitely. For sure. Sometimes it’s frustrating for me because I think I just see like a lot of the same

Gale Straub – Narration:

Sofia shared that she also wants to get more into film because she sees a lot of the same stories and types of films being told. I asked her to elaborate on this.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Just kind of like those go hard, white male dominant ski films. I’m pretty tired of seeing, like, I don’t think skiing always has to be about like the extremist parts of it and skiing off gnarly lines, like, and also coming from my photo journalism background films, like that kind of bore me. Like I don’t really care about ski porn. I want to hear the stories behind the writers and the story behind the place or the, the history of the place, like films that have a deeper story than just like going out and having fun and being privileged to be able to do that.

Gale Straub:

Yeah. Yeah. And it’s kind of funny cause you could almost like insert sport here, you know, in terms of that, like you got the mountain bike riders and get the Oh, you know, whatever it is. Yeah. There’s that type of same story that’s Kind of told over it. That’s not really a story.

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah, exactly. And then also like at the end of the day you would ask yourself like, what is that film really doing for the world? Cool. You’re inspiring some stoke, but like how are you making this a better place or how are you helping people? And I think like stories that dive deeper, do that. And then the ones that are more just about Epic adventures, those are the ones that kind of bore me.

Gale Straub:

Well, I can’t wait to see what, what you create, you know, especially as you continue to gain these skills and start potentially being the sole vision for a project, I guess in terms of directing you are doing that, but

Sofia Jaramillo:

Yeah. Oh, cool. Thank you. I appreciate that. I’m excited too. We’ll see. I have a lot to learn, But way back to your kind of talking about how Jackson has opportunity for film, the whole reason I’m working on these films. This winter is because of my community in Jackson and people either like recommending me or welcoming me in to mentor me like I’m working on a film about a ski photographer and kind of his journey coming out as a gay man in the ski industry. They know I’m not like I’m not an expert filmmaker, the people team, but they’re inviting me in. And that’s like super awesome to have that mentorship.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Sofia also found mentors when she was first starting her photo journalism career in Seattle. And when I asked her about what she was looking forward to in 2021, she alluded to how she wants to continue to give back.

Sofia Jaramillo:

I think just like making the ski community and in general, just like the outdoor community, a more inclusive place with my work, whether that’s like building community or supporting and uplifting BIPOC folks through my work or LGBTQ folks. Um, that’s like a huge goal for me at the beginning of last year, I told myself that I would try to not do any shoots that don’t include BIPOC, like have at least one BIPOC person in my shoots. And I’ve been able to do that pretty successfully, which I feel like good accomplishment living in Wyoming. And then another one that speaks to kind of like going beyond representation. I really want to be able to like give back in the way that that community in Seattle gave to me when I was just starting out. And I see a lot of younger BIPOC or just BIPOC photographers that are just getting into outdoor industry. And so I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can help them, whether that’s like in the form of a workshop to provide some like mentorship or some kind of like networking opportunity that I got in these like mostly like white photo spaces and workshops that I’ve been to.

Gale Straub – Narration:

The last word Sofia wants to share is an open invitation.

Sofia Jaramillo:

And I don’t know, I guess for like any BIPOC folks that listen to this or LGBTQ skiers or outdoor enthusiasts, just for them to know that like I’m doing this work because I believe in them and I believe that like we can make a community that’s more inclusive and I’m here for them and want to work with them if they’re, if they’re open to it too.