Interview with Bomi Park

Medical student and wedding photographer www.bomkeeweddings.com

Q: Tell us about yourself. What inspired you to get into photography?

My name is Bomi Park, and I'm a second-year medical student. I guess to explain what I love about photography, I’ll first have to explain what I love most in general: ever since I was little, maybe around seven years old, I’ve loved writing in my journal (I have stacks of journals piled up in my room). I have always enjoyed the process of recording my thoughts and capturing the moment. But after I moved to Canada from Korea—as I was turning 16—I lacked the vocabulary to express myself. In that sense, photography kind of replaced my writing; the joy that I used to get from writing and recording my thoughts using words now came from photography. That’s why photography was more important to me in the beginning—I felt like it was the only way that I could express myself back when I couldn’t speak or write [in English].

Q: Can you describe your philosophy when it comes to photography? What is it that you aim to capture in your photographs? 

I love travel photography—I love that there’s a component of humanity to nature. Because I moved here pretty late, high school was very difficult for me. It felt like I was constantly pushing myself just to keep up with everyone else. It wasn’t even to compete with my peers or prove myself in any way—it was just to survive that I had to push myself so much at that point. The first real trip that I took by myself was after high school: that was when I walked the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage way. I walked 800 kilometers over a month, and that’s when I started taking photos with my phone. What I love about nature is how grand it is compared to ourselves; we’re so small, nothing compared to this world. That actually comforted me a lot; it reminded me that I had been so caught up in my own world. I had felt so out of breath from pushing myself constantly [in school], and it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. I was so tired of feeling that way until I saw nature on such a grand scale. On top of that, all the life stories and wisdom that I gathered from people I got to talk to along the way—all the different ways of living that they portrayed through their actions and words—really comforted me. That memory became a spark for my photography journey; I’ve been searching for the same thing ever since.

Q: That's really beautiful. I’ve noticed your travel photos often feature a subject in the center, looking as though they’re wandering through or exploring a whole new world. Is that the feeling that you’re trying to communicate?
Yes, exactly.

Q: It sounds like the beauty of the natural world inspires a lot of your travel photography. Do you ever find yourself in a creative rut, and if so, how do you stay inspired?

Something I love about photography is that you have to focus on the little things that we tend to dismiss in our daily life, like where the lighting is coming from, or what the clouds look like in the sky. Those little details matter so much. Thankfully, this can be applied to so many areas of my own life, and so I’d say finding those little components of joy is very important. 

Q: Travel and wedding photography are very different. How did you know you wanted to become a wedding photographer?

In my opinion, it’s very similar to finding the specialty that you like in medicine. I started by exploring different types of photography: portrait, event, nature, product, etc. Then, I got to try wedding photography, and I just loved it so much; I would dream about brides in my sleep. I was obsessed with so many aspects of wedding photography, like how fast-paced it is and how much control I have [as the photographer]. I especially love that I get to build a relationship with my clients. For other gigs, it’s more of a one-time thing—you meet your clients, shoot, and deliver the photos on the same day—whereas, for wedding photography, you build up a relationship with your clients over a year because that’s how far in advance clients book their weddings. We’ll start with an initial meeting, where my clients tell me about their love story, what they love about weddings, what they're expecting, and what they're excited about. I prefer to be more involved in this process, more so than other wedding photographers, because I really love my brides. Usually, I’ll ask them to send me photos as they are shopping for their engagement outfits, so that we can choose the outfits together and I can let them know what will look best in photos. Even after the wedding, I like to catch up with my clients. What we as a business really believe in is building that relationship with our clients. A year after we deliver our clients’ wedding photos, we’ll celebrate their one-year anniversary and check in to see how newlywed life is going. I just love that process of getting to know someone, and it’s even more special on wedding day because that’s when I get to meet all of my clients’ loved ones. It’s such a precious opportunity—I’ve never even met my best friend’s close relatives! I feel very privileged and grateful to have that connection with my clients.

Q: As a wedding photographer, I imagine your job is to capture your clients’ happiest but also most emotional and vulnerable moments. How do you go about building trust with your clients so that they’re comfortable working with you?

I usually bring that up at the very first meeting; I let my clients know that one of my priorities is to capture those emotions. Even before they sign a contract with me, I’ll warn them, “As soon as you start smiling or crying, I’ll be next to you with my camera!” We also encourage our couples to do an engagement shoot with us, because we want them to get used to how we work. We’ll usually give them some homework, like telling them to look in the mirror and find the facial expressions that they like. We’ll practice that with them as well so that by the day of their wedding they feel a bit more comfortable in front of the camera. 

Q: How would you describe your style of wedding photography? What do you think is the reason your clients come to you? 

I think it’s because I just love photography and people. I’m always searching for styles that I would love to be a model for. I spend a lot of time researching and collecting styles and ideas, and in that process, I end up browsing both American and Korean styles. I feel like my style is a combination of Korean and Western styles, and maybe that’s why certain clients prefer my work. I also know that a lot of wedding photographers, because they deal with so many photos, like to keep their colour schemes very consistent. Recently, earth tones have been in trend, and so a lot of photographers have created very similar colour schemes. But for me, because I love nature, I don’t believe in painting the world in a different colour—I want to make sure that I capture colours as they are and change them only slightly to reflect my style. In that way, I think my wedding photography captures a wider range of colours.

Q: Do you find that your creative thought process changes when you're taking wedding photos versus landscape photos or other types of photography?

For travel photos, my focus is more on composition and colour schemes. But for wedding or portrait photos, I’m all about the client having a good time—whether that’s laughing, crying, or whatever it is. My favourite part of wedding photography is capturing those sneaky moments of grooms shedding tears or parents dabbing their eyes—those are the most meaningful to me. With wedding photography, if my clients aren’t having a good time, it’s really hard for me to love the photos. 

Q: How do you balance your competing commitments to art and medicine?

Balancing art and medicine at the same time keeps me motivated in both areas. They become breaks from each other; in that way, I find it very satisfying. Wedding photography also matches well with my academic schedule because the high season for weddings is usually during summer break. That was really important to me last year because I was feeling really tired of being a student. I couldn’t wait to feel more valuable—I wanted to feel like what I was doing was more meaningful than getting good grades on a test. That actually motivated me more to be a better photographer. At the same time, having that kind of work experience allows me to enjoy this long, long journey in medicine. 

Q: Medicine can be a demanding profession. What role do you see photography playing in your life in the future, as you progress in your medical training/career?

This past year of COVID has been really frustrating. I’ve been financially independent since undergrad, so it was really important for me to make money during the summer through wedding photography. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, which also meant I didn’t have photography to counterbalance the stress of medical school. As well, for wedding photography, business is all based on referrals; not shooting for one year can impact your business for years down the line. So it’s been stressful, but something I’ve gotten out of all this, thankfully, is portrait photography. I started a mini-studio in my house because I was stuck at home and had lots of free time. I’ve always wanted to try portrait photography, but because I was always so busy with wedding photography, I never had time for it. For once, I actually had time to sit down and learn how to set up studio lighting. That was actually really fun—I really enjoyed taking more professional portrait photos of my peers and other medical students. Hopefully, I can continue with that and focus more on portrait photography in the future. 

My dad also used to love photography when I was little. Now that I’m into photography, we have photos of our family from when I was young, taken by my dad, and photos of our family now, taken by me. I’m thankful that I got to spend more time taking photos of my family during quarantine. My parents were so shy about taking photos at first—they thought it was so silly, and they didn’t want to do it—but now it’s automatic for them; they can put on a smiling face so fast. I’ve really enjoyed that, and so hopefully I can also continue my photography with friends and family.

In terms of my wedding photography business, we’re currently going through the process of handing the business over to my partner, given that I’ll be starting clerkship soon. At the same time, I’ve been trying to teach my mom how to edit photos so that she can do it from home. Once I can give my mom some feedback on her edits, I think it will be easier for her to recreate my style. Immigrant parents often have difficult jobs that aren’t always the most well-paying, whereas photo editing is less physically demanding and pays much better. That’s why I’m hoping to transfer part of my business that way. Ultimately, my goal is to be a physician and have a side job as an exclusive wedding photographer, where I only take on three or four weddings a year, charge expensive packages, and go all out for those clients. Hopefully, depending on my financial situation, I can either donate that money or put it toward a scholarship. 

Q: That’s really thoughtful! Out of all the photos you’ve taken so far, do you have a favourite photo or project you’ve worked on? If so, what stands out about it? 

I have two projects that I love. The first one I call “Portrait Project”; this is what I’ve been doing with my mini studio setup, where I’ve been taking more professional photos for my friends and peers in the program. I’ve really enjoyed it—it’s so thrilling to see my photos being used as their profile photos or CARMS photos.

Another creative project I love is called “The Patronas Project.” I love Harry Potter so much because I grew up with it. I also love when I get to really know my models and how they identify themselves—I want to learn their stories and how they want to be portrayed or perceived through my photos. “Patronas Project” was interesting because I was asking my models what animal they felt represented them (in Harry Potter, everyone has a different Patronus or animal guardian). At the time, I was in university, so I asked this talented artist in my program to draw these illustrations. I did the editing, and I also collaborated with makeup artists. My Photoshop skills weren’t great at the time (laughs), but it was a fun project to work on, and I really enjoyed it.

Q: Lastly, do you have any advice for people who may be interested in learning photography but are unsure of where to start?

I have two main pieces of advice. In terms of gear, I honestly think your phone camera is better than most DSLRs. If you do decide to buy expensive gear, invest more money in a good lens (please don’t use the kit lens that comes with a basic set); it will make such a huge difference! Second, I feel like finding an artist that you really, really love and copying their style is the best way to get better at photography. I know people think that their photography should be their own unique creative process, but I don’t believe anything is truly unique in this world. Find a style you like and try to copy it. In that process, you’ll find out what you like more and how you can translate a style you love into your own.