If you've flipped through the pages of Glamour or New York Magazine, bought a book published by Random House, or driven by a billboard advertising a major company such as Verizon, you've probably seen a bit of Safia Fatimi. Or at least some of her work—because Fatimi is a leading photographer in New York City with an impressive list of clients under her belt.

In fact, Fatimi's camera has flashed at the likes of Missy Elliot and Kelly Ripa, and she's been honored with numerous awards for her work. A regular contributor to the Photonica Stock Agency, she's become accustomed to seeing her work in unexpected places, although she still gets "excited about it." Yet she wasn't always poised for a glamorous career in commercial photography. Fatimi graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in bio-medical photography, a field she found "boring" by the end of her tenure in college. Instead, she chose to pursue her passion—portraiture and fashion photography—and quickly began photographing beauty, people and fashion for various magazines and record companies within New York City.

But after seven years of life in a hectic and harrying business, Fatimi has turned her lens on something new. While the commercial work she's done has been professionally fulfilling, Fatimi has decided to nurture her creativity by focusing solely on her personal photography endeavors. Though she continues to contribute to Photonica, the rest of her time is devoted to projects such as the one currently on display in the "Fatal Love: South Asian American Art Now" exhibit at the Queens Museum in New York City. In the exhibit, she explores her mother's identity through visual images; it serves as both an homage to her mother's life and a way for Fatimi to come to terms with her parents' mortality and aging. "It's also about how immigrants come here and assimilate into a western lifestyle ... how a little Nepali girl came from India more than 30 years ago to create this beautiful life for herself."

Nirali caught up with Safia Fatimi to learn how she broke into the business and what she's be up to next.

When did you start taking pictures, and why did you choose to pursue a degree in bio-medical photography?
I started in eighth grade by taking a class. But the only way my parents would let me do photography was if it was science related. That's why I did bio-medical photography. In my third year of college, and I did an internship. I didn't like it—it was kind of boring. So I started doing portraiture and fashion and got a portfolio together. After I graduated, I began working for photographers as an assistant ... My parents finally just accepted my career. They saw what was coming out of it, and then they got really into it. They're really supportive now.

How did you prepare yourself for your field, and how do you get into what seems like a very competitive industry?
I took electives in college and developed a portfolio of images that I had taken. I knew I couldn't start shooting right away, so I started freelance assisting photographers and continued to build my portfolio. Finally, I went to India and did two months of shooting. When I came back, I began showing work to potential clients.

How do you get your clients?
You have to do a lot of research. You call magazines and find out who their photo editors are and whether they look at work. After you've been around for a while, you can get meetings with these people. It's a competitive business.

Has being a woman and a minority hindered your career in any way?
I had been shooting portraiture, but I'd always been interested in doing fashion. I devoured it. But it seemed like such a male dominated field ... all the people who usually shoot fashion are guys. So I just started shooting for myself. I entered this photography contest for Surface magazine with my first fashion shoot—and I was one of the finalists. That prompted me to put together a portfolio and start showing it. People liked my work—the way I photograph women is very different from how a man would. My photos have a feminine touch—I don't try to make the women look like sex objects.

In the beginning, I felt [the field] was male dominated, but it's really not that bad once you're in it. Your work has to speak for itself. Now I'm kind of over that ... things have also changed over the years.

Is your job as glamorous as it sounds?
There are parts of it that are, like meeting the celebrities. I used to do a bunch of celebrity stuff, and you're always hustling. The shoots are fun, but they're also tense because you have to get gorgeous images. You have to make the subject feel super comfortable. And you have to make it look effortless—but you're sweating.

But I'm not really shooting commercially anymore. I did it for seven years, and I might go back, but I had to take a break because it was very consuming. I still do work for stock, and I still do some big jobs.

So what keeps you busy now?
My personal projects, such as the one I'm working on about my mom. It's a work in progress. I was getting sad that my parents are getting old, that they're not these invincible human beings. It's almost visually journaling it, and it's my way of coming to terms with it.

I'm also pursuing my master's degree in art education at Columbia. I felt that I wasn't helping anyone doing commercial photography—I was taking just pretty pictures of pretty people. But I want to give something back to someone, and teaching is a service industry. You're contributing to the growth of a child in so many ways. Art helps learning in so many areas—math, science, visual communication. I'm going to get a job teaching. It will also be nice to have my summers off so I can pursue my personal work.

What advice can you offer to aspiring photographers?
You have to be super passionate about what your vision is and stick to it. Don't get influenced by other people or trends. You have to persevere and have kind of a thick skin. A lot of people can intimidate you by saying, "Oh, we're not looking for a photographer like that." And just shoot as much as possible.