Seaver College Alumna Charis Cheung Publishes Photographs in Vogue Singapore
The photography of Charis Cheung (’25) was featured in a 2025 edition of Vogue Singapore. Cheung’s photograph, which captures the actress, singer/songwriter Audrey Huynh, served as the feature image for a profile piece in the magazine’s January/February edition—a remarkable achievement that surprised even the burgeoning photographer herself.
“When I found out, I was living in denial for a little bit,” Cheung says. “ It was just really exciting. Now I can say my pictures have appeared in Vogue, which is huge for my career as a photographer.”
Cheung, who graduated from Pepperdine University as an Integrated Marketing Communication major in May of 2025, managed her own photography business throughout her time as an undergraduate. The image that went on to appear in Vogue Singapore came about in the typical fashion: a client, having seen Cheung’s photographs on social media, reached out.
Huynh specifically asked Cheung to develop a photoshoot that would accompany the release of a new EP. With these instructions, the young photographer developed a mood board, scouted locations, and pitched an aesthetic vision to her new client. After the two agreed on the details of the project, the real work began—taking the actual photos—which requires the use of some significant soft skills in addition to technical expertise.
“It's a skill to get someone to be comfortable in front of you and the camera within just an hour,” explains Cheung. “You have to get them to open up and be vulnerable, and that only comes with lots of affirmation.”
In preparing for the shoot, Cheung had listened to and contemplated the context behind Huynh’s newest song, and used this understanding to provide her model with helpful storylines for each photograph. By encouraging Huynh to act in front of the lens, Cheung was able to capture and edit a host of engaging images. Only after these photos appeared in Vogue Singapore did Cheung learn that Huynh was not only a musical artist; she was also the lead antagonist in the Netflix show XO, Kitty.
Cheung’s most recent achievement represents a large step forward in her progression as an artist, one that started for her in eighth grade. After buying her first professional camera, Cheung was determined to master portrait and editorial photography. She hosted photoshoots with her friends, posted images to Instagram, and slowly started to amass a following. The unstructured time afforded by the COVID-19 pandemic offered an opportunity for Cheung to begin using TikTok to show viewers a behind-the-scenes perspective on her photo-taking process. These posts generated more fans.
Now with a large audience, Cheung is sponsored by a number of different camera brands such as Canon and FujiFilm, but more importantly, she’s been able to successfully grow her reputation as a creative and reliable freelance photographer. For Cheung, however, photography is about more than accolades and notoriety.
“I've always loved meeting people,” she says. “I love learning about people, and for me, photography is a way to forge relationships with others, while practicing something I enjoy.”
Through her integrated marketing communication studies at Pepperdine, Cheung gained important insights into growing the business side of her passion. She learned, for example, how to approach social media as a true marketing tool, defining her target audience and posting photos and videos during peak traffic hours on specific days.
While she has worked with intention for her success, Cheung has made a point of keeping photography fun, using it as a connective tool, and being open to whatever is next—camera or no camera. “I don't want to set extremely high expectations for my business because if I do, I won't enjoy it,” she says. “I have a blurry vision of what I want to achieve. But I'm still subconsciously working on it. . . . I guess we’ll see.”