My voice has changed since I started this journey.
Years ago, when this was all really just a dream, I thought I had to be loud and outgoing to take up any meaningful space in the world of weddings, but especially as an artist. I was fresh out of college, new to the wedding industry, and still had my rose colored glasses on - about weddings and also about the world. I was trying to take up space without having any confidence, and without having a super clear direction of what mattered to me as an artist. When I first started, I don't think I even really considered myself an artist. I still viewed this whole thing in a pretty mechanical way, a checklist to accomplish. I was very used to gritting my teeth and barreling through hurdles, and was humbled to realize that's not really how growth works - as an artist, or as a person.
Now, a few years in, and ready to take another leap, my sense of direction is clearer, and my voice has settled. I'm finding a better home in my own gentleness, as an artist and storyteller, that allows me to be more grounded and present. I am quietly celebrating the small victories in this corner of my artistic universe, and still know (many) areas that I want to dedicate my time and energy to grow.
It wasn't until after I was already deep in it, and really until fairly recently, that I fully understood just how utterly special this field is, and what I really want to bring to my own clients as this endeavor grows. There are plenty of problematic things about the wedding industry, as there are in most industries (there will be words for that, at another time) but in the past 5 years of immersing myself deeply in weddings, it is one of the most beautiful forms of service I've ever been a part of, and a responsibility that I value greatly.
Anyone can make beautiful images. Anyone can understand the mechanics of a camera, or the functions of a wedding day from a logistics perspective. You can find plenty of good artists and plenty of good vendors that can objectively give you a wonderful wedding day, and that's great. I would like to think that I am good enough at both of these things, but what matters the most to me is the preservation of your actual memories, whether your wedding is traditional with every single one of your loved ones or in the backcountry with just the two of you, or somewhere in between. My job is to notice things, and return moments to you that you can feel over and over and over again. I think often about the people at your weddings and what they mean to you, and how precious it is that I get to preserve these memories. I think often about the fact that these images might be shown to your children, or maybe to your grandchildren, for decades to come, and I hope that they can elicit the same emotion every time. All of my favorite stories are gentle, and rich, and timeless, and full of emotion, and I hope that the images we create together can hold even a fragment of those qualities.
Those of you who have been here since the beginning, on a different website and a different Instagram handle, when I was just shouting into the void - thank you. You're why this is possible. Thank you for allowing me to go through cringey artistic phases and supporting me while I worked out of them. And those of you who are new, or who I am fortunate enough to work with in the future - I'm glad you're here. Thank you for allowing me to create with you, dream with you, and celebrate with you.
This is the beginning of a new chapter where I can treat this endeavor gently and nurture its growth, rather than just trying to keep up with it all. For the first time in a while, I'm excited to see what comes next.
