Bảo Ngô

When Bảo Ngô started out, she was working in a restaurant and relentlessly shooting on the side. “You can’t dream a portfolio into existence,” she says; the most important thing is actually making the work you fantasize about. Today, she’s built a distinct Americanah aesthetic: dream-like portraits backdropped by on-the-road landscapes and nostalgic establishments. From learning the basics of photography in 7th grade to dropping out of art school – it was “irrelevant,” says Bảo – here’s how the photographer got straight to creating work.

About my work

My creative practice
I’m a photographer and director, working primarily in the music and fashion industries. I shoot, edit and retouch photos. I often do my own lighting and creative direction too. I also direct short films, experimental films and music videos.

Influences and inspiration
My biggest influence is cinema. I love old films: the works of Georges Méliès, Jacques Demy, and Robert Altman. The American South is a huge source of inspiration for me since I’m from Texas. There’s so much beauty, but it’s also a region abundant in decay. Also, American realist painters like Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and George Bellows.

My training
I’m mostly self-taught. I was taught the basics of photography, like the exposure triangle, in my 7th grade yearbook elective. When I was 14, I took a two-week photography summer workshop at Maine Media Workshops. I then went to art school and dropped out – but I didn’t study photography there at all, so that’s irrelevant. When it comes to directing, I bought a bunch of used books on film theory and cinematography and immediately got to work.

Favorite recent project
Over the summer, I finished shooting an experimental short film with my friends, actress Isabel Ebeid and cinematographer Aaron Zimmerman. It’s a silent black-and-white film, in post-production right now. I’m really excited about it.

A day in the life
I always sleep in unless I have to be on set early. After waking up late, I make coffee, sit at my computer to answer emails, edit photos and take Zoom calls with clients or collaborators. By the mid-afternoon, I force myself to go on a walk so I can breathe fresh air and get some direct sunlight; sometimes I’ll stop at a coffee shop. I then go home and keep working until dinner. I always eat dessert, even if it’s just one bite of chocolate. Then I wind down by watching a film.

A starter pack for my job:
Spam musubi, iced americano, disposable chopsticks, roll of gaffer tape, a construction flashlight, an early 2000s digicam, a box cutter.

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
The beginning was a blur. I was pumping out so much work. I worked at a restaurant six shifts a week, and on top of that, I was shooting 2-4 times so that I could aggressively build my portfolio. Because of that, I transitioned to full-time freelancing pretty quickly, but to this day I’m still finding my feet. There are always new things I want to do that I have to figure out how to do.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and/or commissions
My first few jobs reached out to me. I’m really bad at reaching out and always have been. I try to consistently post my work on social media and make it known that I’m available for work – that has always done the trick for me.

Biggest challenges along the way
Client communication is just customer service. I often talk to clients in my creative practice the same way I talked to customers working in food service. Realizing I could never get away from that dynamic no matter what was pretty hard for me. Everything else comes pretty easily to me because I love the work – whatever effort I put in always feels worth it and the challenges are fun.

Everyday skills I’ve found helpful for my creative work:
The ability to lift. Staying strong is important when lugging around gear.

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
Kind of lazy. I churn out low-effort content on TikTok that I know could be better, but I just don’t care that much. I’m consistent about sharing my work, which matters more than making reels in my opinion.

Three things I've found useful in my career:

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative:
I’ve accumulated so many skills over the years, so when photo or directing work is slow, I pick up other gigs doing video editing, assisting on other productions (in any capacity), retouching, etc. I’m really vocal about when I need work so that other people know. Also, I don’t work for free.

Advice

My most useful career tips
Finish your projects. Starting your projects is good; finishing them to honor your commitment is more important. Look at lots of art; study lots of art. Run your practice on knowledge and experience, not vibes.

Where I go to feel connected as a creative
I meet the most people when I’m on set! And on TikTok or Instagram.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
The only thing you have to show for your efforts is your portfolio. You can make plans, get coffees with other creatives and daydream about all your ideas, but you actually need to make something. You can’t dream a portfolio into existence, so get to work!