Sophia Wilson – the 23-year-old photographer who recently made the coverted Forbes 30 under 30 list amongst powerhouses like Kendall Jenner, Jared Ellner and Jenna Ortega – has a story that is the stuff of New York lore.

Wilson shot her first campaign at age 13, interned at Paper Magazine while finishing middle school, and has since been commissioned by everyone from Vogue and the New York Times to Meta and Coca-Cola. Her story sounds like a fantasy, but you would be wrong to think she’s a nepo baby. A true New Yorker, she doesn’t come from a creative family, and didn’t have a head start in the industry. Instead, her impressive career is born out of a potent combination of self-belief, taking risks and loneliness.

“I went to a predominantly white school, struggled in class, and nobody wanted to be my friend,” Wilson tells me about her early education. “The lack of community meant I had a lot of time on my hands, so I put all that energy into art. First drawing and painting, then photography.” Like many early teens, Wilson escaped her struggles by hoarding fashion magazines and retreating into an editorial fantasy.

This ability to escape became more tangible after her grandparents gifted her a digital camera on her 12th birthday, setting her life on an entirely new trajectory. “I spent hours making portraits of myself, my sister and my surroundings. Despite how tough the loneliness was, I never let it get me down because although it sounds weird, I have this unwavering belief that I will make something of myself.”

Wilson grew up in the era of photographic democratisation. The rise of digital technology and smartphones made image-making affordable, and platforms like Tumblr and Instagram enabled artists to share and distribute their images at scale for the first time. It was a decade defined by the girl boss, personal branding, and an insatiable obsession with new talent after the internet collapsed geography and anyone with online access could tell their story.

“The internet formed me and opened everything up,” explains Wilson, who joined Instagram when she was 12 and unknowingly laid the foundations of her career, which traditionally would have taken several decades to achieve. “The big thing about the app was that you could share your work, but you had a level of anonymity. No one could judge you based on your age, gender or race. At that time, the metrics were simple; if the work was good, it went viral. If it wasn’t, it didn’t.”

Wilson credits Tumblr for shaping her visual lexicon. Through hours of deep scrolling, she figured out how she wanted to shoot and her mission as an imagemaker. “From a very young age, I noticed there were no models who looked like me. I also struggled to find any renowned photographers who were Black women. Even now, it feels like no Black female artists are household names to the level of Andy Warhol or Yoko Ono. That was very motivating for me, and the openness of the mainstream media at that time made me realise that I had the power to change or shape that from a young age.”

By late middle school, Wilson’s career began to bloom. Her warm, bright and aspirational images of young women started to catch the attention of youth brands like Brandy Melville, and she landed her first commissions. Simultaneously, she began cold emailing and DMing brands and magazines in an attempt to build her name and cultivate opportunities.

When you grow up here, you’re so independent from an early age that nothing fazes you. I was so naïve and confident; I felt like anything was possible

She began interning at 14. First with Wilhelmina models – where she photographed all their new faces and made web and social content for them – and later Paper Magazine, working for Kim Hastreiter and Mickey Boardman. Opportunities to shoot for Nylon followed – “My mom took me to that meeting, and it was so embarrassing” – as well as iD and Vice.

Despite being new to the industry, Wilson wasn’t afraid to step out of her comfort zone. In 2022, she appeared as a lead on The Come Up, a documentary TV series that followed six up-and-coming artists in post-pandemic New York. While she has mixed feelings about the show now, it opened her up to new audiences, and she was inundated with fan mail from young women of colour who finally felt like they had a role model to look up to.

Despite her sidestep into reality TV, Wilson remained dedicated to her photo practice. She describes Elizabeth Renstrom – Vice’s photo editor at the time – as her “photo mom”, pushing her out of her comfort zone with assignments to document rappers like Gangsta Boo of Three 6 Mafia. Wilson describes the experiences as landing “once in a lifetime shoots” that she would complete and then return to school the next day, and “no one would know”.

While profound loneliness may have catalysed Wilson’s creative life, her tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit transformed her love of image-making into something tangible. “I definitely don’t think I’d be a photographer and wouldn’t be so accomplished if I didn’t grow up in New York,” she says. “When you grow up here, you’re so independent from an early age that nothing fazes you. I was so naïve and confident; I felt like anything was possible, even though I had no frame of reference or backing.”

The unique experience of coming of age in New York became the subject of Wilson’s first personal work, Lovers and Friends. A “love letter” made in collaboration with co-creative director and stylist Iza El Nems, it documents fellow born and bred New Yorkers in their homes, capturing their diverse energy and creativity.

While style and culture were key themes in the project, Wilson also wanted to define a moment in time and reclaim the heart and soul of her city amidst rapid gentrification. “Witnessing the city change so rapidly and all of our favourite mom-and-pop businesses struggling to survive was a huge driving force for this photo series,” Wilson told Forbes. “The affordable housing crisis has become so out of control in recent years here, especially for born and raised New Yorkers in their own neighbourhoods.”

As Wilson continues to refine her practice – she hand prints all her work in the colour darkroom – and reimagine the industry, offering internships in her studio to young artists every summer, the driving force of her work is human connection. From her long-time collaborations with El Nems to her obsession with photographing real people, her practice is a commitment to community.

“It sounds so insane, but I feel blessed to be surrounded by such a strong and supportive group after having no friends growing up. I finally feel seen, so I think about my work as constantly celebrating that and showing gratitude to all my loved ones.”

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