Today we’d like to introduce you to Xenia Helix.
Xenia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love for beauty began during my childhood, around the age of 7 years old. I went to art school (school of general arts) in Russia. Given the fact, that I was born in Saint-Petersburg (Russia) one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it was difficult not get inspired by all the architecture and classical pieces of art.
I continued at the art school for five years, paralleled with my regular school. But I ended up not pursuing a career as a painter, honestly I am not that good a painter at all but I am good at composition and colors.
So with all those skills, which seemed useless at the time, I went to the college for tourism and hospitality. After college I also decided not to pursue a tourist agent career and went to the University of restaurant business, since my dad is a chef and it was his suggestion. While studying at college, I got a gig – to work as a re-toucher for a German company that provided senior photo sessions at high schools and was affiliated in my city. I was actually pretty good at Photoshop, so i once decided to dedicate an entire summer learning it just for fun. Back in 2006/07 it was still a valuable and rare skill in Saint-Petersburg.
So I kept working there during my college days. After two years of studying restaurant business, I’ve decided that it’s not what I am going to do with my live so I quit. I didn’t have the slightest idea that I was about to become a photographer so soon thereafter, I didn’t even own a camera.
A friend of mine at that time graduated from a stylist school and was invited to do make up at a run-way show. So a friend from our group promised her to come to the show and photograph backstage and the runway show for her (he had a good camera and was just an enthusiast) so she can start her portfolio and career as well.
At the last moment he couldn’t make it, and I was the only available friend from our group. So a camera was lent to me and the manual.
I took pictures, as I saw them, no pressure…because it’s a free favor for a friend. I was also excited to get into post production, since Photoshop was still my hobby and this was a real shoot (!) with real models (!). I edited the pictures and uploaded them into social media networks, tagged a few make-up artists and models and went to sleep. Next morning it was a blast, tons of professional models’s comments and compliments, some of them used those pictures for their profile shots, hundreds of “likes” and so on. Later I received a message from my ex-classmate, asking if I do look-books because she was starting a modeling career. I honestly told her, that this runway shoot was my first one and I am not sure, but I can google what has to be done. To make the long story short – basically it is how my career started.
After a few sessions for my friends, I had a clear understanding, that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I photographed around two years for free, before I was sure that I am professional enough to charge people for my services. I learned a lot online and visiting workshops, and most of all practice…practice…practice.
At some point, I happened to be living in Tallinn, Estonia and had a great connection with my friends from “Russian Theater of Estonia” who introduced me to the head of the theater, who was amused by my work. That is how I got my first exhibition in Europe. The Exhibition was held at the theater’s restaurant and got a lot of attention. They interviewed me and featured the opening of the exhibition on the news as a big event and made a full spread article in the Tallinn newspaper.
Later I moved back to Saint-Petersburg, where I continued working as a photographer but moved my focus onto weddings. Along with being a photographer I opened my own wedding planning agency and organized numbers of happy and beautiful events.
Within some time I met my beloved husband and moved to him, on the other side of the world – to Boston, MA. At that point I was 9 years into the photography business. Currently I am still new in the United States and it feels like I am building up my career from zero. But I have a lot to offer for the local market – a fresh eastern European vision and creativity, along with quality.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My first struggle at the early years of my career was to convince myself that I was ready to get payed for what I do. Even-thought others told me early on that I should be charging, since I did much better work for free than other so-called-professionals do for $$$. There is a saying that “a real artist has to be hungry”. Meaning: creating just for the love of art, not money and that was difficult to remove it from my head. Also when a client becomes a payed-client, it’s all about him/her, not me. It wasn’t so easy to adjust at the beginning.
Another big struggle was changing countries. Every time you move, you’re back to square one, working your way through to get into that new market and become recognizable again.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Xenia Helix Photography – what should we know?
My company for now is just me. Well plus my assistant, but mainly it is me – an owner, a lead and only photographer, a manager, a re-toucher and all other 1000 things at once.
I am a wedding and portrait photographer. With a style that is deeply rooted in classical painting history, elegance, photojournalism, fashion and fusion of natural and glamour style of photography.
The result is timeless, creative and elegant imagery, full of emotions and memories. I pride myself on being an artist who creates family heirlooms that last for generations to come.
I am best known for my outstanding composition skills, breathtaking colors and absolute dedication to a great costumer service. And I am a wedding junky
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Ability to listen and to hear (between the lines) my clients, observe, and be in the flow with a moment… and seeing beauty of course, where nobody was even thinking to look.
Besides, it’s also being a weird combo between photographer-psychotherapist-a
Pricing:
- Wedding collections start at $2400
- Portrait sessions start at $350
Contact Info:
- Website: www.xeniahelix.com
- Phone: (617) 834 0579
- Email: mail@xeniahelix.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xeniahelixphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xeniahelix/
Image Credit:
Julia Malisheva
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