Photo Editing

2014 - 2021

As a photo editor & photo lead on projects over the years, my responsibilities ranged from image curation, photo sequencing, listing curation, retouching assets for campaigns and launches, creating photographer briefs, hiring and onboarding photographers, and working on initiatives to elevate overall quality across the platform.

Wishlist Launches

PHOTO LEAD | 2021-2022

Problem
During the pandemic, when people were stuck at home, Airbnb wanted to figure out a way to provide guests with wanderlust using our unique inventory.

Solution
Using Foto Friday (the weekly email series I created in 2016) as the inspiration for this initiative, we created a new highly curated series of wishlists, each with a theme. Over the year, I lead the photo curation for the monthly launches that featured 14 themes each with up to 20 images. Additionally I worked with celebrities to help create their own wishlists. Throughout this launch we used both user generated content, as well as produced photoshoots to elevate the images.

Color Launch

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BrutalisM Launch

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Field Trips Launches

PHOTO EDITOR | 2021

Problem
In 2021, during the pandemic, Airbnb create online experiences as a way to allow people who were social distancing to do activities virtually together.

Solution
In order to help alleviate some of the pains of being cooped up at home, Airbnb launched fields trips, a new online experiences category focused on learning-centric activities. We did partnerships with celebrities like Bill Nye the science guy, and Olive Wilde to discuss her new screenplay that she wrote. Additionally we also worked with locals around the world who did online experiences, like a jungle safari in Sri Lanka over zoom, a magic show in Japan, and more. I made selections of 5 photos to be displayed in-product for each of the 40 high-visibility experiences. This meant sorting through hundreds of images to select the images that best articulated each experience. I also worked with the celebrity liaison to communicate the types of photos we needed from celebrities, and then make selects and upload images to the product launch page.

Broadway & TikTok Launches

PHOTO EDITOR | 2021

Problem
During the pandemic, Airbnb create online experiences as a way to allow people who were apart to do activities together. These two launches were focused on the influencer community, and supporting artists who otherwise would be out of work.

Solution
These two launches each had slightly different focus’, Broadway featured the cast in movement (dancing and or singing), while TikTok featured a range of influencers each with their own talents.

The Great Indoors

PHOTO EDITOR

Problem
In March 2020, the world came to a startling halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With Airbnb’s business at a standstill, leadership asked for pitches to rethink our homepage, providing hosts and guests with moments of joy, wanderlust, and hope. Inspired by Foto Friday, a weekly email campaign I created, we developed The Great Indoors.

Solution
We created 5 categories, each a focus for bringing joy and wanderlust to viewers. Within each category we created 5 themes, each including a collection of 10 images. Within two weeks we curated 250 images into 25 themes. This campaign was made for the homepage, and took viewers to a landing page with all 25 themes, and each theme would take the viewer to a singular theme’s editorial landing page, featuring copy and photos.

Fashion Week

ART DIRECTION & PHOTO LEAD | 2018

Problem
To create buzz and increase engagement, Airbnb teamed up with Fashion Week to feature selected runway looks. The goal was to come up with a format that would be punchy, unique, and engaging.

Solution
I pitched and lead a Fashion week campaign to create buzz around Airbnb’s unique supply. As a result of its last-minute nature, it was a complex campaign to complete by launch. I found and selected homes to match each garment and Photoshopped them together. The complexity of the retouching varied based on difficulty of matching the lighting and composition.

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Met Gala

ART DIRECTION & PHOTO LEAD | 2018

Problem
With the success of Fashion Week and the high visibility of the Met Gala, we wanted to showcase another quirky selection of homes that matched the campy runway looks.

Solution
After the success of the fashion week campaign, I pitched and lead another campaign to create buzz using the Met Gala to highlight Airbnb’s unique supply. This time I chose to feature them as diptychs.

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Low Intent Weekly Email Campaign

PHOTO EDITOR | 2016

Problem
This weekly email was focused on engaging low-performing users. The email was typically viewed by ~75-80M users. Each week we highlighted locations and themes using curated and algorithmic data.

Solution
I strategized themes and destinations based on identifiable trends, user research, and data. I found and curated hundreds of images based on each theme.

Foto Friday

ART DIRECTION & PHOTO LEAD | 2016 - 2020

Problem
A weekly newsletter that featured homes and experiences using a central theme. The themes alternated between destinations, unique homes, property types, amenities, hosts, and one-of-a-kind themes showcasing company initiatives.

Solution
This weekly email series ran for 4 years, and published approximately 200+ themes in 200 weeks. I pitched this email series, set the art direction, selected all images, and made the weekly deadline each week. I strategized themes based on high-performing data, trends, and company priorities.

Airbnb Experiences Launch

Photo Editor | 2015

Problem
Airbnb expanded their product offering from homes to include a new business called Experiences, which is activities hosted by locals with an expertise. In its incubation days, we needed to come up with a creative strategy to launch the product in a way that was unique, informative, and scalable.

Solution
In order to have a diverse and comprehensive launch offering, we hired 5 photographers in 15 different markets and designed unique “movie” posters for each Experience. Additionally, we signed off on images to be used in each Experience. I curated the images for 70 Experiences, which involved selecting the hero images used in the posters and selecting 8 images used in product and social marketing.

a collection of airbnb experiences posters.

Launches & Campaigns

PHOTO LEAD | 2015 - 2018

I worked as a photo editor on a series of company launches, and campaigns. Many of these initiatives were high visibility launches, some reaching as many as 80 million viewers. As the photo editor on each of these projects, my roles was to sort through thousands of images to find images that best illustrate the focus for that launch.