Hi, I’m Jasmin.

P: +1.773.612.7595 E: jasmin@jasminshah.com IG: @jasminshahphoto 

As a child, I became obsessed with my dad’s Kodak camera with a patinaed brown leather case. He bought it as a young Indian man in Ethiopia and brought it with him when he immigrated to Wisconsin. With it, I took my first photograph when I was 5. By the time I was in college, I knew I had no other choice: I had to be a photographer. And I still have my dad’s camera, one of my prized possessions.

Now, whether I’m documenting climate scientists in the New Zealand wilderness or taking portraits of the musician Pharrell in his Miami studio, my mission remains the same: Telling people’s stories and showing how they live. My curiosity for people has driven my 25-year freelance career. Whether a project is one photo or 20, images have the power to make us pause and think, to laugh, to cry, to shake with anger. I’ve sought those moments, and those feelings, my entire life.

I told those stories from Chicago and abroad for years. But in 2019, I gave up my apartment and became fully nomadic, capturing stories worldwide, never guessing what the following spring would have in store. Covid compelled a pivot into van life, capturing spontaneous profiles via my Reintroducing America project as I drove across the U.S. 

I also made several pit stops in Wyoming, where I joined my former roommate as a field producer for a podcast project for Serial: “The Coldest Case in Laramie.” I recorded almost all of the interviews that became part of the series–the first collaboration between Serial and The New York Times–and took all of the photographs. For almost a month in early 2023, the show was ranked the No. 1 podcast in the country. 

I’m now back to traveling and shooting photos everywhere I can. Last stop, the tiny island nation of Tuvalu. Current location, London. Next stop, Mazatlan, Mexico, for the April 8th total eclipse. And after that, who knows? Follow me on Instagram, and email me at jasmin@jasminshah.com to hire me to shoot your story. In all likelihood, I’ll be there soon.