Meet Kris Shopov | Hospitality and Interior design photographer and videographer

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

Hi Kris, what do you attribute your success to?
To me, success is how others define you. Fulfillment, though, is something that I strive to achieve every day. It’s that feeling you have when you see that what you do is worthy and brings joy and value to others. Doing things in life with dignity and recognizing the fact that your name is your personal brand, whether you work for a company or for yourself. Consistency and intention. Hard work and patience. Attention to details. Loyalty to clients and partners.
These are the most important factors to make a business or anything in life successful.

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.
Please tell us more about your art. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I am a hospitality and interior design photographer and videographer. I have been doing this for the last 22 years. It all started after I decided to study videography and TV production in my home country of Bulgaria. During the first year, I fell in love with photography. We were shooting endless rolls of film trying to tell a story in a single non-moving frame. I realized that I truly enjoy these challenges and was thrilled to see the images come to life in my darkroom at home.
Following completion of my education and after one year of working as a camera operator for a national TV channel, I relocated to Dubai in 2000. Since then I am fortunate to have completed numerous hospitality, interior design and food related projects in the United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria. Renowned Chefs published my work in culinary books, and I am trusted by some of the biggest hospitality brands like Hyatt, Accor, Melia, for their photography and video needs, trust me. It was a real adventure to travel to Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, and other places and be able to photograph some of the best hotels. I have worked with so talented interior designers and have been commissioned by companies like Nestle, Unilever, Adidas, Virgin and many more.
Photography and videography give me the freedom to express the way I see the world. Hotel and interior design photography in particular is a field that gives me the opportunity to travel and photograph beautifully designed spaces and to invite the viewer, through my lens, to relate to the scene and feel the atmosphere. My hospitality clients expect me to photograph the property in the best possible but realistic way. The images need to be inviting and beautiful, but at the same time remain in line with the corporate standards of the brand.
I am also incredibly inspired by the designers themselves, no matter if I work with them on site or they have finished their job in a hotel well in advance and I am just photographing it.
By appreciating their vision, from the bigger layout and space to the details in styling, I can find and create the best photographs to showcase their work.
Another passion of mine is photographing food. I look at it as a miniature world with its own colors, shapes and textures. Photographing food requires a great attention to detail, patience, and quick reactions all at the same time.
I love what I do. Every part of the whole process. Creating images, meeting with clients, scouting locations, traveling. All of it.
To continue doing this is my plan after my family relocated to Houston at the beginning of 2022.

We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about.

I am highly collaborative person, and I take care that each client’s vision is exquisitely captured and communicated. I care deeply about the outcome of every project and work with a great passion during the entire process. One thing that I am proud of up until now I managed to start my business two different times on two different continents and I am so excited and fortunate to be now living and working in Texas and be able to meet and work with some really talented and creative people.

How did you get to where you are today professionally? Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

This is actually the third time I am starting my company in a new country. I did it first in Dubai, UAE and then later in Bulgaria. It is something that I have experience with but, at the same time, every place and every market is different. This means that you have to first understand how the market works before you can make it. Preparation is key. This learning curve takes time, effort, and resources that will test you as a person and business owner. No matter how well you are prepared, you will make mistakes. That is certain. You have to be ready for these mistakes. The size of these mistakes and how you handle them will determine the result.
The main thought I have always had when I start from scratch again is that I have to make it no matter what. No matter how long it takes, no matter how hard it is; photography is what I do best and what I enjoy the most.
However, you cannot do it on your own. You need a team, a business partner, or somebody that can support you and help you to achieve your goals. I am fortunate to have worked with so many talented and dedicated people on many projects. I am a one-man business, but I often hire assistants and collaborate with stylists, chefs, culinary consultants. For my video projects, it is a much bigger crew of talented people that are incredibly important for the success of the job.
When I started in photography years ago, I also wanted to be sure that my career decisions would be in my family’s best interest. I am so lucky to have an amazing wife that fully supports my decisions and understands that being a small business owner can be a difficult and sometimes exhausting task. She is also a highly successful person on her own and makes the best adviser when I need one.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

Nothing is just given, and you have to push your limits every day to stay in the game.
There is nothing certain in any business, and everything can change very quickly. You need to accept this and be prepared for every possible scenario.
Success is something that everybody tries to achieve but to me success is how others define you. Fulfilment, though, is something that I strive to achieve every day. It’s that feeling you have when you see that what you do is worthy and brings joy and value to others. Doing things in life with dignity and recognizing the fact that your name is your personal brand, whether you work for a company or for yourself.
Consistency and intention. Hard work and patience. Attention to details. Loyalty to clients and partners. These are the most important factors to make a business meaningful.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As I have been in Houston for less than a year now, I am still exploring the city myself. There are endless places to visit and so many thing that you can do. The Museum District is one of Houston’s greatest cultural attractions. Highlights include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Children’s Museum of Houston. Also in this area is the lovely Hermann Park, with the Houston Zoo. Most of the museums are within easy walking distance of each other and you can have a multiple trips to the same area and never get bored. If you’ve never been in Houston, then a trip to NASA is a must. It is a place that the whole family can enjoy and learn so many interesting things. Houston has some really beautiful parks that are worth exploring as well. A a walk or a bike ride around Buffalo Bayou Park is something that will give you the opportunity to have a stunning views of the Houston skyline.
Dining out in Houston is easy. I read somewhere that there are more than 10,000 ethnically diverse restaurants, so there is never a shortage of different cuisines to explore.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shout out first to my parents that supported me all the way, when I was trying to find my true self when I was a kid and for giving me the opportunity to explore different fields and forms of art before I found what I enjoy the most. A big shout out to all the photographers I have worked with as an assistant and learned from at the beginning of my career. Big shout out to all my clients that have trusted me to work on their projects and giving me the opportunity to capture their beautiful spaces and dishes. And last, but not least the biggest shout to my wife and my two amazing boys for all the support and sometime sacrifices they have made to allow me to do what I love most.

Website: www.krisshopov.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-shopov-63560528/

Image credit:
Rita Davis for my personal photo