7 questions with chantal pasag

My Rituals has left the building. It’s gone. Done. G’bye! To be honest, it was fun and very interesting to get into the minds of different creatives, but I recently I started thinking about asking different people the same questions to see what kind of answers I’d get. And so I now present to you the weekly series, 7 Questions With. Think of it like a My Rituals 2.0. With 7QW, I’m focusing more on West Coast creatives and asking each seven specific questions—some mundane, some serious—inspired by great series like NYMag’s 21 Questions and the fantastic blog So, How Was Your Day?

We’re kicking it off with the very cool, very talented San Diego-based photographer Chantal Pasag. Today, she dishes on trash rap and a secret San Diego spot…among other things.

Name: Chantal Pasag
Age: not 30 yet
Neighborhood: North Park, San Diego
Professional title: Photographer

What did you eat for breakfast today?
Cafe Au Lait (soy) + le croissant.

What’s the best thing about your job?
Being able to connect with people—strangers, friends, acquaintances. I love the challenge of trying to get people to feel completely comfortable around me so that their photos turn out the best—candid, real and fun.

The worst?
Editing. Sometimes. Only when there’s thousands of images to sift through. When the best are picked out then it gets fun again.

How do you tackle a creative block?
An ice-frothy Manhattan or maybe a gin martini. Sometimes “trash rap,” my guilty pleasure. Or I avoid tackling a creative block at all costs by cleaning the house.

What are you currently reading?
A stack of Time magazines (free subscription that keeps showing up at our house. Not sure why, but I’ll take it) and Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

What’s your favorite spot in the city and why?
There’s a spot downtown that I cherish, because it doesn’t look or feel like you’re in San Diego. It’s architecture is minimal and modern—it feels very Japanese. It’s also very peaceful on a Sunday evening. It’s my “secret spot” where I go to reflect, and be alone.

What was the most awesome thing about today?
Friday Morning Coffee Times. Every Friday morning I meet with my friend (and tribes woman) Holly Haines, founder and cook for FMITK. Check her out. We do a word jumble over coffee. Sometimes other friends crash our morning coffee times, too. We love it! I don’t do well conforming to any sort of routine, but this is one of the very few things that I make an exception for.

Thanks, Chantal! You can also check out her work on her portfolio site pasagraphy.com.