Creating Impact Through Visual Storytelling

An interview with outdoor photographer, Sofia Jaramillo

By Stio

Photos by Sofia Jaramillo and Jr Rodriguez

Sofia Jaramillo is a Colombian-American adventure photographer based in the Tetons. Growing up in Ketchum and Boise, Idaho, outdoor sports have always been an important part of her life. Sofia grew up skiing at Sun Valley and Brundage, hiked and climbed in the Sawtooths with her dad and raced mountain bikes during the summers. As one of the few Latinos in Ketchum to get after it in the outdoors and having climbed some of the tallest mountains in the world, her father was her biggest inspiration. Sofia wanted to be just like him. He is a big reason outdoor sports are ingrained in her lifestyle.

Sofia’s photography background is in photojournalism. She studied Spanish at Seattle University, but used her free time to intern for newspapers and took a semester off to work at a paper. After college, she fulfilled one of her dreams and spent the summer as an intern for the Associated Press in Mexico City. When she returned, she became a staff photographer at a local newspaper in Washington state and covered stories about migrant workers, the Yakama Indian Reservation and the hop industry. In 2017 she started freelancing and landed gigs working for some of the world's major news outlets such as The New York Times and National Geographic.

After completing a long-term photography project about Peruvian migrant sheepherders in the mountains of Washington state, she decided to move back to the Tetons in 2018 to pursue outdoor adventure photography. Now, Sofia spends most of her time photographing outdoor adventure sports but utilizes her experience in photojournalism as a storytelling approach to guide all of her work.

As a Latina photographer, including and uplifting BIPOC communities is a core part of her mission. She wants to create images in magazines and movies that she wishes she’d seen as a little girl. Whether it be photographing stories of BIPOC athletes or volunteering with non-profits that support diversity in the outdoors, Sofia is always trying to improve access, inclusion, and representation for BIPOC and other underrepresented communities.

For her, photography is a way to express herself through art and also create work that makes a difference.

When she's not shooting photos in the Tetons, she can be found throwing pottery at her local ceramics studio, listening to reggaeton music or fly fishing on the Snake or Teton River.

We caught up with Sofia to learn more about how she got her start in photography and where she's taking it from here.

Creating Impact Through Visual Storytelling

How did you first get into photography?

Oh man. My dad took me on this really early college road trip when I was 14. School was super important to my dad, but I was so young. I was just stoked to go on a vacation. He took me on a road trip of the California coast and let me borrow his point and shoot Nikon camera. I didn't know anything about photography, but I miraculously took this one awesome picture of a lighthouse. Just out of pure magic it was perfectly composed. I didn’t know about any photography techniques yet, but the image used the rule of thirds, it had lead in lines and the light was super nice. I remember when I looked at the back of the camera having this moment and being like, “Oh my gosh, this is like opening up a Christmas present. I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

On top of that, ever since I was a kid, my dad inspired me to find work that I loved and also something that I could give back to the world with. So, photography filled both of those needs. Then, in high school, I took a technical photography class. One of my classmates said, ‘Hey! You should enter this Canon NFL contest.” I'd recently taken a picture of a football game with a nice sunset. I entered it in the contest, and I won my first camera. That got me started.

What type of work did you do in college and how you decided to pursue photojournalism.

I was always looking for some type of work or an art form that I could give back with. I went to college at Seattle University. At the time, there ended up being a lot of protests in Seattle. I mean, to be honest, there are always a lot of protests there because the city has a culture rooted in social justice. I remember going to a May Day protest in downtown Seattle, just to document it for myself. I got so amped that I climbed up in this tree in the middle of downtown Seattle and started taking pictures from up there.

There happened to be a photojournalist at the protest named Josh Trujillo. He worked at the Seattle PI (Post-Intelligencer), which, at the time, was one of the leading online newspapers in Seattle. I got down from the tree and he looked at me and said ‘Whoa, you really wanted to get that shot, didn't you?’

That was my first connection to the photojournalism industry. Josh took me under his wing and really gave me a chance. I sat down with him at a coffee shop one day, as you do in Seattle, and I showed him my portfolio. It was, for lack of a better world, complete crap. It was a portfolio of flowers and animals and star trails. Regardless, Josh gave me a shot and I ended up taking an internship with him at the Seattle PI, and that's how I got into journalism.

How did your start in photojournalism evolve into what you are doing now in the outdoor industry?

Oh! This is a fun story. In 2014, I interned for the Jackson Hole News & Guide. It was the best internship. I got to photograph all of these outdoor sports and got sweet assignments with biologists on the Elk Refuge and wildlife stories in Yellowstone.

And at the end of the internship, I got an assignment to photograph a group of high school kids going up the Grand Teton. I remember being roped off the edge up there and looking down, looking at my camera and thinking, why am I not more scared right now? But with my camera, I wasn’t afraid. That assignment and the internship stuck in my head and sparked my interest in adventure photography.

I didn’t know how to make that transition to adventure photography, so I went back into photojournalism for a little bit.

What about photography do you love or what continues to inspire you in the field?

For me, it's all about people. I think that the camera serves as a key to unlock new perspectives about other people’s lives and experiences. That’s what I love about it.

When did you realize this connection?

Well, I am an artist at my core and have been since I was really young, so I love that part of it too. But, I love being able to experience the world in a way that only the camera lets you do.

Why do you love capturing or documenting outdoor recreation?

I grew up partly in Ketchum, Idaho, so the outdoors and outdoor sports have always been a really big part of my life. When I was a kid, the summer camp I went to was a hiking camp. That's where I learned to love the outdoors. So, finding adventure photography was a way for me to put my love of the outdoors and art together.

How do you blend photography as an art form with activism and action photography?

For me, it’s not just about taking pretty pictures anymore. I feel like I have a pretty solid portfolio under my base, so it’s more about telling stories that are meaningful. That’s why I am always paying attention to emotions and trying to find images that tell a bit more than just the action in sports. Finding stories that are meaningful and could have an impact inspires a lot of the projects I pitch or decide to take on.

Has there been any other pivotal moments in your photo career?

Yeah. In 2015, I went to Mexico and interned for the Associated Press for a summer. I thought I wanted to be a correspondent in Latin America, but I went down there, and it was intense. I photographed some very tragic and scary things and I just realized okay, maybe I want to go back to the states and tell stories in the US.

So, I came back and took a job as a staff photographer at a newspaper in Washington. There, for about two years, I worked on a project about Peruvian migrant sheepherders. That project ran in The New York Times and Outside Magazine. I devoted a ton of time to that story and sacrificed a lot to bring it to life. After it was all said and done, that style of work didn’t feel sustainable for my lifestyle in the long run. So, when I finished, I knew I needed to do something just for me. I decided I’d do exactly what I wanted. So, I moved back to Jackson in 2018 and started pursuing my career in adventure photography.

Are there any other meaningful projects you’ve worked on since then?

Recently, the most meaningful decision that I’m focused on is uplifting BIPOC folx and women in my work. At the beginning of the year, I told myself I’d try my best to include at least one person of color in each of my shoots and I’ve been able to do that, almost fully. Inclusivity and the issue of diverse representation within the outdoor space is near to my heart, so advocating and pushing for it in all of my projects creates deeper purpose to my work.

Do you have hope for the continued improvement of BIPOC representation in the outdoor industry this year?

It's going to take time. It feels like things are moving in a positive direction, but honestly, I’m not satisfied yet. We can do better. I'm excited to see where the outdoor industry goes. In the next three years, I hope to see more team rosters and ambassador lists with at least half of the people being BIPOC. I think where brands can go beyond just the bare minimum is by supporting BIPOC athletes fully, by getting them on their teams and by putting gear into the hands of folx who need it to rise.

What does the next evolution of your photography look like?

Ooof yeah. If there's one thing that I've learned in my career so far, it’s just to listen to your heart and go with the flow. I’m trying to do more of that these days. Of course, I have specific ambitions, but I trust I’m headed in the right direction and right now that’s enough for me.

What is one dream project you hope to work on one day?

Projects. It depends on what season you ask me. I'd love to shoot in Antarctica. I'd love to go ski in Japan. And my super big dreams....well, I can't tell you because I’m pitching them and I'm super superstitious.