Elise Swopes.

Edited by Bee Tomlinson

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
My idea of perfect happiness is never worrying about another bill again. Making sure my parents are set with that same happiness. Putting health first and freedom second.

What is your motto?
Keep your imagination alive.

What is your current state of mind?
Self-aware.

How would you like to die?
Very, very old with family around at home in bed.

What is it that you love most about what you do?
My free time to still be a kid.

If you could have a conversation with anybody (alive or dead), who would it be?
When I go through the people that I could pick, I wonder, “Will they be honest? Should they be family? Should they be a part of a historic unsolved murder mystery?” I suppose my questions tell more about me than the answer I would try to come up with.

When did you realize that you wanted to be a creative?
To be quite honest, when I came out of the womb.

What motivates you?
Working to the point where I can make sure my family never has to worry ever again.

What do you love about being a woman?
Everything! Knowing that I have all the power in the world to conquer whatever it is that comes my way.

What is your experience of being a woman, while also being a creative?
It’s fun but it’s weird. I can’t go out and shoot alone at a certain time of night in certain places, for example an abandoned building in Indiana or even the simplest super dope sunrise in San Francisco on top of a sketchy hill. I don’t get to be in situations where I’m free to travel anywhere in the world comfortably. Professionally, I haven’t felt plighted but it could just be that I am not in the position to be in competition with a man who does what I do. I’m very unique in this realm. I think there’s enough for all of us to eat.

“Knowing that I have all the power in the world to conquer whatever it is that comes my way.”