Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Cui.
Hi Shannon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I had always been a keenly observant and reflective person. From a young age, I’ve been a highly feeling person. Growing up, I felt so connected to the moon and sun and earth and birds and trees. Looking back, my childhood was magical. The birds that would sing in the tree outside my window, the crickets chirping in the muggy New Orleans air, the wind blowing through the Spanish moss, the ducks flapping their wings against the algae-infested pond. My neighborhood and Louisiana, in general, hold some of the memories I miss the most. Sometimes I can still feel the damp concrete under my feet and see the fog in the trees. This nature shaped how deeply I feel the magic in life.
As a kid, I would read novel after novel, always sitting in a patch of sun, perched on the sofa arm like a bird, trying to soak up all the rays. I loved reading and transporting myself to other worlds. I would get lost in books, imagining the scenarios and images in my head.
I grew up drawing, painting, crafting, creating music, and taking photos with my iPod touch. This blossomed in high school, where I threw myself into my AP art classes and finally got my first camera. I even went so far as to create an Art Club in high school where people from all art disciplines came together. We had a 2D/3D art subgroup, a cooking/baking group, a musicians group, and a writing group.
At Rice University, I went even harder with creating community and my photography projects. I took graduation photos, fashion concept photos, product photos, and filmed dance videos. I fell even more in love with photography. In my junior year, I stepped up to become President of a music club, the Rice University Music Collective (RUMC). We connected different musicians on campus, like singers to producers, drummers with bands. During COVID, we ran a produceathon where different bands came together to produce a song. I directed our own version of Tiny Desk Concerts too, Tiny Nest (since Rice’s mascot is an owl).
Even now, the themes stay the same in my life. I was most recently the Media Director for The 5 Club, a dinner and event series in the DFW area. As one of the first members of the group, I led photoshoots and content creation days—from editing, producing, directing, promoting, and posting—as well as being the photographer. I felt so alive creating a space for others. And nowadays, I have stepped back as I focus on my personal work.
As I re-realized my love for photography and capturing emotion and moments, I started to see something more clearly. I saw my photos as more than just photography—I felt like more than just a photographer.
I am creating art.
My goal this year is to rewrite the stories that I tell myself, unleash myself from my own limitations, and explore the themes of my inspirations—what I gravitate towards, what emotions I want to portray, and how I allow the viewer to experience the magic of the moment through my art.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I grew up so imaginative and so isolated.
I was born in Metairie, Louisiana, and spent my childhood living in a suburb of New Orleans. Pros: I was surrounded by immense amounts of music, culture, and people who cherished community. Cons: I was one of the only Asian people in my entire school, maybe even the only one. I lived a stereotype—the child of Chinese immigrants counting change in the small family restaurant, the Chinese kid who played piano and was good at school. Growing up as the only Asian kid, it was hard not to feel like a stereotype, especially when people were so ready to put you in a box. I think I speak for a lot of first-generation Asian kids in the South when I say that I constantly fought this subconscious pressure of assimilating to our environment while also not resenting our culture.
High school junior year was when I first realized that I was severely depressed.
Most importantly, I finally allowed myself to admit it and ask for help.
College was four years of immense growing pains. Don’t get me wrong, I experienced so much beautiful self-growth, but when I was finally out of my little bubble of a childhood, I didn’t know who I was. I had spent so long being what other people wanted. And for the last decade, I have been healing and learning about who I want to become.
From CPTSD diagnosis to ADHD diagnosis, from every up and down, I continue to learn about myself to this day. I continue to heal and grow stronger, because one of the best things about being human is that you are constantly shedding old self-narratives and embracing new ones. There is no final completed version of myself – I just am.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work primarily centers around portrait and film photography, with a focus on capturing real, in-between moments. I’m drawn to the subtle things—expressions, movement, and the feeling of a moment rather than just how it looks. Shooting on film has been a big part of shaping my approach, as it forces me to slow down, be present, and trust my instincts. I’m less focused on creating something perfect and more interested in capturing something honest. Whether it’s a quiet portrait or a candid interaction, my goal is to preserve a moment in a way that feels genuine and allows others to connect with it.
As a future psychologist/therapist, and I’ve always been deeply interested in understanding people and why they are the way they are. That curiosity naturally carries into my work—it shapes how I connect with the people I photograph and how I notice the small, unspoken moments. I think that’s a big part of why I’m drawn to portraiture and able to capture moments that feel real and emotionally grounded.
Outside of photography, I also explore other creative mediums like crochet, painting, and multimedia work. Those practices allow me to experiment with texture, color, and form in different ways, and they continue to influence how I approach visual storytelling across all of my work.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I had always been a keenly observant and reflective person. From a young age, I’ve been a highly feeling person. Growing up, I felt so connected to the moon and sun and earth and birds and trees. Looking back, my childhood was magical. The birds that would sing in the tree outside my window, the crickets chirping in the muggy New Orleans air, the wind blowing through the Spanish moss, the ducks flapping their wings against the algae-infested pond. My neighborhood and Louisiana, in general, hold some of the memories I miss the most. Sometimes I can still feel the damp concrete under my feet and see the fog in the trees. This nature shaped how deeply I feel the magic in life.
As a kid, I would read novel after novel, always sitting in a patch of sun, perched on the sofa arm like a bird, trying to soak up all the rays. I loved reading and transporting myself to other worlds. I would get lost in books, imagining the scenarios and images in my head.
I grew up drawing, painting, crafting, creating music, and taking photos with my iPod touch. This blossomed in high school, where I threw myself into my AP art classes and finally got my first camera. I even went so far as to create an Art Club in high school where people from all art disciplines came together. We had a 2D/3D art subgroup, a cooking/baking group, a musicians group, and a writing group.
At Rice University, I went even harder with creating community and my photography projects. I took graduation photos, fashion concept photos, product photos, and filmed dance videos. I fell even more in love with photography. In my junior year, I stepped up to become President of a music club, the Rice University Music Collective (RUMC). We connected different musicians on campus, like singers to producers, drummers with bands. During COVID, we ran a produceathon where different bands came together to produce a song. I directed our own version of Tiny Desk Concerts too, Tiny Nest (since Rice’s mascot is an owl).
Even now, the themes stay the same in my life. I was most recently the Media Director for The 5 Club, a dinner and event series in the DFW area. As one of the first members of the group, I led photoshoots and content creation days—from editing, producing, directing, promoting, and posting—as well as being the photographer. I felt so alive creating a space for others. And nowadays, I have stepped back as I focus on my personal work.
As I re-realized my love for photography and capturing emotion and moments, I started to see something more clearly. I saw my photos as more than just photography—I felt like more than just a photographer.
I am creating art.
My goal this year is to rewrite the stories that I tell myself, unleash myself from my own limitations, and explore the themes of my inspirations—what I gravitate towards, what emotions I want to portray, and how I allow the viewer to experience the magic of the moment through my art.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shans.pic/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-cui/
