A bit of retrospect, in February my former employer Atomic Design had its annual company-wide meeting which would feature a storyteller that really impacted and moved us all. Rita Clarke had instructed us to bring an item of great meaning to the event. I brought my camera. The importance of the camera was a reinvestment into myself. A commitment to storytelling that I had felt went missing when I was professionally promoted 3 years prior. The iPhone had been a great tool, but I wanted to go further.
It’s March 2020, and the unknown looms large. My dream job has just furloughed me. The industry of live events that had provided for me for half my life is being devastated. What will come next?
Like so many, this massive disruption made me take stock. What direction should my life go? Every attempt to rebuild a resume felt like quitting, which I just don’t do, and brought this Feeling of dread in dealing with a new place that would never be as good as my former employer. I started sharing photos of my co-workers as a way to stay connected, and then I started a project that would change everything.
Porch sessions or Porch portrait were not a novel idea, but it gave me something to do and the connection with people became everything for me at that moment. April turned into May, and June flew by as I distracted myself with these little sessions. I booked my first full family session, but then … nothing.
In June I was officially laid off with about half the company and the true drama and despair set in.
July faded into August. It felt like all momentum had stopped as my soul healed from this massive heartbreak. I started to think about education and resume building again, and again it felt like quitting. Then a friend asked me to take some band photos and another for some headshots. Another friend let me stay at her AirBnB in upstate New York. I started to wake up. Behind the scenes, I was making headway into the scene of established photographers that I had met a year prior in October. I was an outsider with the thought of a side hustle then, and now a hopeful upstart. They welcomed me with open arms and have helped me fill that void of community that losing my job had created.
September. I got my first work as a second shooter for a wedding. I’m hooked. I can do this and all I need is more opportunity. I focus on Fall Family sessions and in October I have the pleasure of shooting a good friend’s wedding. Rita Clark is the officiant for that wedding and I can’t help but feel like a small circle has been completed. A bit of knowledge about myself confirmed. I am a photographer.
I have a lot to learn, but I’m excited for the challenge ahead.