We recently had the chance to connect with Eliana Feldkamp and have shared our conversation below.
Eliana, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
A family. A think there’s a big stigma that when a woman has a child in this industry, they typically become boring, busy, hormonal, or whatever nonsense you want to claim. I have a 4 month old that keeps me on my toes. He is the absolute light of my life and is just everything that I need. He fuels my creativity and inspires me to shoot for the stars so that he grows up knowing to never give up and to dream big. Me, my husband, and my son just took a roadtrip down to Miami for Miami Swim Week where I photographed the Sports Illustrated Swim show. When it was all over, they were waiting for me back in my hotel room. I still breastfed. I still stayed up all night editing for clients. I think you can be fully present in both your career and as a full time mom while thriving, it just takes a balance and being all there when you’re there. I just want people to know it’s possible and you can be truly happy juggling it all. I’m really proud of myself for not running away when it all seemed impossible. I feel more fulfilled now than I ever have.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Eliana Feldkamp, friends call me Elle, and Instagram knows me as Elle’s Film Studio! I’m a professional photographer, typically known for my work in the fashion industry with photo. You may have been following my New York Fashion Week or Miami Swim Week journeys through social media!
While I was in college, my photography professor encouraged me to publish my first ever photo book. I wrote a multiple page series of poems that coincided with each photo. This actually ended up being a big turning point for me. I learned a lot about myself and what it meant to photograph emotion.
After all the positive feedback I got from my book, I felt inspired to take the next step and follow my true passion. It was officially time for me to go into fashion. As a kid, I thought I’d either be at NYU, painting out my apartment in NYC, or living in Paris by the time I was 20. Turns out, I was just a small town girl living in Florida with a camera and a dream. But eventually I went for it. Now I’m here, photographing runways and organizing media. The dream is nowhere near done, but I’m really proud of the place I’m currently at and I’m excited to see it continue to flourish. The dream of Paris isn’t over!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I felt like there wasn’t going to be a space for people like me in the photo industry or world of fashion. Now, I can see just how wrong I was to ever think that. Publicly speaking about chronic illness or disability will always come with wandering eyes and judgment, sometimes even rejection, but it feels so good to be authentically yourself. I also see how things are changing for all creative industries, really. I think spaces are becoming so much more inclusive and excited to learn about people’s real stories in the real world. There’s a lot of genuine talent out there that deserves to be seen and I’m a strong believer in chasing your dreams because they really are possible. The right person will listen and take a chance on you.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
To slow down. That’s a good question. Success feels good and you want more of it so you speed up to get as much of it as you can, as quickly as you can just like that. Pain makes you feel so intensely that it feels as if time is actually slowing down. The days feel twice as long. You get so consumed in the bad feelings that you don’t acknowledge how you just found a loophole to get more time. While pain is a hard thing to feel, we are so lucky to be alive to feel at all. I have learned to intentionally take days with the sole purpose of slowing down and feeling. Suffering, or feeling, can teach you empathy and resilience. It can give you a deeper understanding of yourself and the world, while success alone often doesn’t provide that. It will also help ground you in realizing what’s really important while success can sometimes blind you from that.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am chasing dreams to photograph Paris Fashion Week. I also have aspirations to make it to the Met Gala. It has been my dream my whole life and I feel like I am genuinely creating the foundation for that to happen which is so exciting.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing?
I don’t know if regret is the right word, but I was in an acting academy when I was a young teenager. I absolutely loved theatre in school and I swore I would make it to Hollywood that way. I also was a painter for many years and had my artwork displayed in galleries all throughout Florida. Now my career revolves around photography, but I do always wonder what those other art fields would have been like. Sometimes I still think maybe there’s space for both. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll branch out. I don’t think you have to subject yourself to just one dream. Have many. Chase all of them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ellesfilmstudio
