About Jasmin Shah Photography

For over twelve years as a professional photographer, I’ve split my time between freelancing in Chicago for clients like The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Crain's, HSBC, Coca-Cola, Jim Beam, PR Newswire, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, and traveling the world—five times to India in the last five years, as well as Ethiopia, Mexico, Brazil, Honduras and Tonga—for Operation Smile , corporate clients and for personal projects.

What’s with the bold, strange dichotomy? It’s just who I am.

I’m Jasmin Shah, one of the very only half-Wisconsinite, half-Indians to ever come out of the Dairy State (certainly the only one to have waitressed at Kenosha’s The Brat Stop), and I grew up equally steeped in both unique, dynamic cultures. It formed the approach to shooting pictures and telling stories that I’ve taken ever since:

Search for life’s striking contrasts...and its beautiful unexpected similarities.

After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Montana, then working as a bike messenger in Missoula and Chicago, I moved overseas to teach English and photograph in Japan and Spain. I’ve been Chicago based ever since.

In my spare time I ride one of three bikes I just can’t part with (especially my 1972 Schwinn tandem), walk a half-pit, half-labrador named Lenny, and cook interesting new dishes that fuse spices and cheese. Fittingly.