From the quad to the most magical place on Earth, the creativity of Charlene Guilliams knows no bounds.
Guilliams, 22, has been developing her professional eye for photography for the last five years, and it has paid off. She is taking her talents from the pages of Baton Rouge’s 225 Magazine and bringing it to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
For the next year, Guilliams will be working with the Disney advertising team to help bring out the magic of the Disney parks.
“I’ve been taking photos my whole life,” Guilliams said. “I had those disposable cameras forever, but I really started getting serious my senior year.”
Guilliams said she had a quick start to her professional photography career. She always had an eye for it but didn’t gain the tools until the day her father decided to get rid of his own equipment. He told Guilliams she could keep his camera equipment if she could figure out how to use it all in just a week – and she took him by surprise.
Guilliams not only figured out how to use the equipment, but also kept it to use throughout her career. The equipment her father handed down to her has seen her through high school yearbook photography, her time at the University and her job at 225.
On social media, Guilliams goes by Charlene Maria and uses an Instagram account to show the versatility of her photography. She has been working on finding a balance between her product and portrait photography, and she said she loves the details that come from up-close portraits and product photography. Those details are what draws people to the pictures on her feed because she has found a way to bring out the beauty in everything she shoots.
“If you look at my feed right now, there’s a whole shift to pink,” Guilliams said. “With a lot of the photos I have taken recently, that’s the thread between them. I’m really working on making it all look more aesthetically pleasing.”
Guilliams started as an intern at 225 in May 2017 and was later hired on as a contributing photographer. It was then she realized she loved the work she got to do with the 225.
“I definitely want to do some editorial commercial work,” Guilliams said. “Like working for some big magazines, shooting food and things like that. I love editorial, commercial and structure. I like having a say-so in my art and collaborating with people on projects.”
Guilliams enjoys to work with people in all aspects of photography. She said she is inspired by the people she sees on the streets and just the world around her because she can’t create without being exposed to the real world. She will undoubtedly be inspired by the people she sees walking the Disney streets during her year-long internship with the Disney advertising team.
“They went so fast,” Guilliams said. “I prepared for the interview, and when I started it, they already seemed excited to have me working with them. It was just like boom boom boom, and I was really shocked.”
Guilliams said seeking an internship with Disney may have been intimidating at first, but when the opportunity came knocking, she knew there was no passing it up.
“At first I was like ‘Oh my gosh, Disney contacted me,’” Guilliams said. “When I started to think about spending a year away and missing, so much I wasn’t too sure, but then I thought about it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I wasn’t going to pass that up.”

Gallery • 1 Photos

Caleb Bourque

LSU photography senior Charlene Guilliams takes a photograph of a ring at the Parade Ground on Monday, March 12, 2018.