Fresh Faces: Aaron Laserna

Patch: In three words, how would you describe your freshman year experience?

AL: Fast, eye-opening, perspective-changing

Patch: What was a highlight of your year at Rutgers?

AL: One highlight was meeting my mentor, Shirley Yu, an aspiring fashion photographer. She’s a year older than I am, but she’s already been in the fashion photography industry for five years and she’s really an inspiration. She contacted me through Facebook, after I’d been following her work for a while.

Patch: Rutgers is a huge school—what’s it like going to such a big school, with so many of the same people from your high school?

AL: I got really lucky having so many people from South Brunswick in my dorm. In high school everyone complains that Rutgers is “South Brunswick Part Two”, but seeing people you know makes the school feel smaller and more secure, in a good way. It’s really comforting for me. Many of my close friends are Rutgers incoming freshman, so I hope they can look to me for guidance in their first year.

Patch: How many times did you come home over the year? Did you ever feel like you wanted to come home, going to school so close by?

AL: Even though Rutgers is a 20-minute drive away, you still feel away from home because you’re caught up in the stress of college work. From time to time I wanted to come home for a home cooked meal or see my dog. I mainly came home for work. I started working with a website called NJRunners.com, a website for New Jersey track and field, and since the SBHS track team was so great this year, I got to follow them and get paid for it too. I’ll continue to write and photograph for the website again this year.

Patch: Your photography really took off this year…where did you start and where do you plan to go from here?

AL: I think my photography took off after I got my first gig with a good friend of mine, Spencer Lee, an aspiring fashion designer in New York. As the school year went on I was actually shooting less and doing more research. Through that research I came across work that was much more technically and stylistically advanced, and that happened to be fashion photography. That’s the direction I want to move in now. Of course I’ll finish school, but I’m chasing my photography dream right now. Photography is not just something I want to do because I like it, but my work is something I want to leave behind. I guess many people want to be famous, or be remembered, or leave a legacy of themselves, but I think a great thing about photography is that I can leave images behind that will be remembered for a lot longer than I will.

Patch: What are you looking forward to in the upcoming school year?

AL: Academically, I’m finally on track to take courses toward my major, so next year will be a lot more difficult, but I’m ready for it. Artistically, Fashion Week is around the corner, so I’ve been in contact with multiple agencies and subjects to shoot and play around with. I’m able to work with agency-represented models, make up artists, stylists, so it’s looking like photography will become less of a hobby and more of a budding career. Now that these resources are finally on the table for me, it’s time for me to take advantage of them this year. I think people will be able to see much more refined images, and most importantly a better reflection of myself.

Patch: Any advice you can offer to high school graduates as they head off to college this fall?

AL: One thing that kills me the most is when people say, “I’m not good at anything,” because it’s that mindset that is limiting. Something I learned in college outside of the classroom is how important a good mentality is, so my biggest piece of advice would be to not limit yourself. You’re never going to get another shot, and if you don’t take advantage of it now, you’ll regret it later on.

To see Aaron’s work: Instagram @aaronlaserna or visit http://aaronlaserna.tumblr.com/