IN CONVERSATION WITH: CORRINA DAY

WORDS BY: Ajay Woolery, Corrina Day

MEDIA: Corrina Day

To kick the second chapter of our Creator Spotlight series off, we spoke with Photographer and Creative Corrina Day. Corrina’s small-town beginnings taking disposables of her Bratz dolls have taken her all the way to the Big Apple where she’s excelled at her craft working with major brands and creatives. In this highly requested feature, Corinna walks us through everything from breaking into the industry to Covid-19.

AW: Give us a short introduction of yourself and what you do?

CD: I grew up in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, one of the hottest cities in the country. I was a really shy but creatively inclined kid. From a very young age, I suffered a lot of health issues so I learned pretty early on how to entertain myself around the house, especially in a desert town where it gets too hot to even exist outside. I remember my first camera was a plastic Disney princess disposable camera that I still own to this day. I spent hours setting up my Bratz dolls in elaborate scenes and then making my mom drive to Walgreens and pay to get all of the photos developed. Now as an ‘adult’, I basically still do the same thing but with other amazing creatives and a slightly more advanced film camera.

AW: As a Photographer and Artist, how did you initially begin your professional career and, have you always felt an innate connection to the type of work you're doing now?

CD: As a photographer/creative, I’ve taken some twists and turns to get where I am today. I moved to NYC to pursue a degree in photography and filmmaking. Ultimately I’ve done a lot of jobs like being a server, a fashion intern and a personal assistant; I’ve just always had a passion for expressing creativity in whatever way I could. Photography permeated through everything I did though. From being a kid to a teenager, it’s always been about finding ways to creatively express myself and picking up a camera did that for me.

AW: What are some of the things you do to get your creative juices flowing?

CD: Watch movies - I feel like films visually inspire me and help me find stories I want to portray in my photos. Seeing the way directors have used the camera to convey emotion is inspiring, and it pushes me out of my world and into someone else’s. Take a walk - Getting out of my own space physically and forcing myself to see other people just existing around me pushes me to get out of the rut in my head. Especially in New York, seeing people’s style and personal expression helps me come up with new ideas to play around with.

Victoria Lamas by Corrina Day (tap to enlarge)

AW: You've worked with a variety of influential brands and individuals, how have you broken into those spaces and which projects have meant the most to you?

CD: Like most things, breaking into a culture or a career is about making connections with people. I really struggled with that for the longest time. I’ve been shy since I was a kid, and I found it difficult to pitch myself as a creative to others. That lack of confidence can really hold you back. I take it all one step at a time but I’ve been able to find my voice more and with that has come much more opportunity. I definitely feel I have so much more work I want to do but each and every project feels special to me from the brands that let me convey their product to the creative teams I get to partner with.

AW: As a creative enduring through the Covid-19 Pandemic how have you been coping with the challenges of staying at home?

CD: In the beginning, I lost my full-time job in the city, so from then on things really changed for me. This past year has come with its fair share of mental challenges; I’ve spent months at a time feeling very stuck and held back from making art. At some point, I realized all of these creatives I looked up to online were in the same boat and suddenly a community of people was at my fingertips. In a normal world, a lot of these influencers and artists would be too booked to work with me but I realized if my work stopped then so did a lot of theirs, so I reached out to people I was interested in collaborating with and started to build myself up in this weird time.

AW: What would you say defines the aesthetic of your work? Is there a particular message that inspires how you create?

CD: I honestly find this so hard to answer. Aesthetic is not something I necessarily find myself thinking about when I begin a project. I think I just try to find what emotions and vibe I want to come through with a shoot and work from there.

Selected Works by Corrina Day (tap to enlarge)

AW: Who are some of your favourite creatives? Why?

CD: Petra Collins, Amber Asaly, Conor Cunningham, Hugo Comte, Arthur Elgort to just name a few photographers. Also Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Bong Joon-ho, Spike Jonze, Baz Luhrmann. There are so many people I feel inspired by but these people come to mind because they’re all architects of imagery. They know how to use people to inflict emotion on the viewer, and they also know how to make people feel a little uncomfortable. I also have so many creatives I get to work alongside and collaborate with like Tabitha Sanchez who transforms and empowers people with her styling.

AW: What is some of the best advice you've ever received, and what advice would you give to a young creative developing their craft?

CD: Don’t try, just do. I really live in my head so I use that one to push myself out of it. It’s hard to not self-critique so it’s better to just throw yourself into actually creating otherwise you hold yourself back before you even get

A special thanks to Corrina for joining forces with us share her amazing story. To learn more about Corrina and her work check out the links below.

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