When Zusha Goldin was 18 years old, he purchased his first camera. He’d loved taking pictures ever since he was a child, growing up as the youngest of 10 in a Hasidic family in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“I always was a photographer, not in the professional sense, but in the hobbyist and interest way,” said Goldin. “When the time came for me to choose a career path, it only made sense for me to choose to do the thing I love.”
On March 1, 2020, just before the pandemic hit, Goldin moved to Los Angeles, fulfilling his dream to live here.
“Something about this city has always drawn me in,” he said.
Now, after being in LA just over two years, Goldin, 23, is an established celebrity and headshot photographer who has taken photos of Courteney Cox, Patrick Stewart, Billy Crystal, Selena Gomez and Ben Stiller. His photos have appeared in Deadline Hollywood, Variety, Business Insider and Yahoo, and he’s worked on more than 600 projects – taking over 80,000 shots and counting.
He credits his success at such a young age to building up a solid portfolio of portrait work, spending years perfecting his craft and networking.
“There’s always the stroke of luck needed. You can’t take all the credit.“ – Zusha Goldin
“There’s always the stroke of luck needed,” Goldin said. “You can’t take all the credit. God and luck have to play a big role in making everything happen in the right timing.”
The photographer has built a large following online as well – he has 2.1 million likes on TikTok and nearly 10,000 followers on Instagram. In his posts, he takes fans behind the scenes of his photo shoots, discusses his Jewish identity and makes funny videos about doing business with his clients.
In one TikTok, labeled “When you give a client the edited photos and then they go post with an Instagram filter slapped on,” he lip-syncs a track that says, “I’m sorry, and I loved you, but what you did is so low and unforgivable. Be ready.” He called it, “A photographer’s pet peeve.”
Another TikTok features Goldin and a friend lovingly poking fun at being chased around by Chabad shaliachs, who ask random men on the street if they are Jewish to get them to wrap tefillin. He captioned it, “Chabad can do no wrong” and wished his followers a good Shabbat.
“Judaism plays a role in my day-to-day life in every way,” Goldin said. “Aside from just the observance and lifestyle, so much of the dogma is internalized in my belief system, and it affects how I live on the daily.”
Though he’s a New Yorker, Goldin plans to stay in LA, continue to add to his portfolio and hopefully take photos of his dream clients, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harrington from “Game of Thrones.” “I really loved that series and their performance in it,” he said.
He’s optimistic about what lies ahead in his career. “My ultimate goal is to live my authentic life, build upon my dreams and goals and make the world a better place all whilst telling amazing stories via my photographs,” he said. “There are many blessings.” ■
