Meet Sara Hertwig | Photographer, & Visual Storyteller

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Hertwig and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
Oh man, creative inspiration is everywhere. Of course looking at fellow photographers work is a huge inspiration, but so is playing in Colorado’s mountains and even just sitting on my couch and catching the sun streaming through the window to light up my cats whiskers. I’m highly motivated by warm days and traveling to new places, being around fun and creative people, finding interesting light and shadows, reflections, learning new things and most of all telling a story. Having a background in photojournalism, I’m most happy being a visual storyteller and using photos to create a narrative. Getting to know people and having them trust me enough to let me into their world and share a piece of their life with others is the best part of what I do. I’m currently getting ready to make a trip to Ghana with a friend of mine for his non-profit organization. He’s helping raise money to send individuals to trade schools so they can start their own businesses and better their lives, and I’m beyond honored to create documentaries of each individual through video and photographs during my time there.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The fun thing about photography is that you can have 5 people all lined up, making photos of the same thing and every image will come out different. The image each individual creates is directly linked to how that person sees and relates to the people or subjects in the frame. My background in photojournalism has had a huge impact on how I see and go about being a visual storyteller. My aim is to not only tell a story, but to inspire emotion and connection through every image I create.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oooh fun! I would definitely start off with a mountain day. Load the paddle boards in the car and head up to Dillon Reservoir for some time on the water, then bop over to the Breckenridge Brewery for lunch and a delicious beer. We would do a few hikes, maybe even get up in time to make the sunrise. Evergreen and Golden have some of my favorite hiking spots. At least one day would be dedicated to Downtown Denver – art, food, drinks and walking around the different neighborhoods is so much fun. Colorado is full of breweries and wineries, so there’s no shortage of places to visit!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are oh so many… You know that saying, “It takes a village”? I’ve been incredibly lucky in my life to have my very own village of friends and mentors who have pushed me when I felt like quitting and given me the inspiration and motivation to keep at it. At the very beginning of my journey I was introduced to Kenn Bisio, photojournalist and professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, who very quickly wrote down my 5 year plan on the back of a piece of paper he pulled from the recycle bin, handed it to me as he stood up to leave for a meeting and sent me on my way. His plan seemed a little far-fetched, including an internship at a French magazine in Paris and didn’t take into account the full-time job I was working, but he was so sure of everything he said that I marched down to the admissions office and filled out the paperwork. My life would be very different if not for him. His brutal honesty, support and friendship not only taught me to see, but got me through school, introduced me to amazing photographers and led me to internships and jobs. These days I’m running my thoughts, fears and business ideas by my amazing tight-knit circle of friends including an incredible photojournalist, a former colleague and reporter I dearly miss working side-by-side with, and two wonderful women I’ve known for 20+ years.

Website: https://www.sarahertwig.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarasfotos/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahertwig/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahertwigphoto

Image Credits
Chancey Bush, Sara Hertwig