Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeline Northway.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I don’t think that there was ever a moment where I specifically decided “I’m going to be a photographer”. It just sort of happened, unfolding naturally, and I haven’t turned back. I began photographing my friends while in high school and it became our outlet for adventure. Every weekend, I’d dress up girlfriends, or gather up my musician friends for band photos. We would go out and explore everything that surrounded us, so quintessentially Midwestern. We explored caves and nature preserves along the Mississippi river, corn fields and sprawling farmland and historically haunted towns. I’m naturally a very curious and exploratory person, so realizing that my camera was in a way my backstage pass life, I was hooked. The fire was fueled further by gaining access to magazines like Vogue Italia (which I discovered were available at one specific bookstore in town). Seeing the works of Steven Meisel and Ellen Von Unwerth opened my mind to a deeper, storytelling side of fashion photography.
Almost simultaneously, I started building up my business while making the move up to Chicago to attend Columbia College. Over these years, I learned by trial-and-error the ways of entrepreneurship, photographing weddings, events and anything that allowed me to create portraits work for money. I explored mediums like film, learning the process of developing and printing, start to finish. I began gathering all the tools necessary to execute bigger creative visions, inviting collaboration to create fully stylized shoots that allowed me to tell the stories in my head.
I’m very fortunate to have had such a focused vision in my work from such an early beginning. I’m also endlessly grateful to my parents’ full support of my vision at such a young age, my sister for being a strong example of what an artist & entrepreneur is and my friends for going along with my crazy ideas. I’m still steady on this path, now working full-time as a photographer, and I still have plenty of stories to tell and endless exploring of curiosities ahead of me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being both an entrepreneur and an artist presents endless challenges. In so many ways, this is a job that is deeply personal. You’re sharing your art and creation with the world, which is a real spiritual process. When you start doing it for money, it’s sort of like being in a relationship with someone at work (in a more traditional sense). You have to learn how to separate business from personal in regards to creating work for other people’s use, while still retaining your creative passion and artistic integrity. I think a lot of people must hit this fork in the road and you have to make the decision — is this something that I really want to turn into a business? Or do I choose to keep my art for myself and myself alone?
Madeline Northway Photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My focus is on fashion, beauty and portrait photography. I use a lot of color, femininity, and personality to create imagery with an environmental, story-telling sense. I work mostly with strong women with vibrant personalities to bring characters to life. I want people to view my work and feel connected. I strive for to them feel like they can be a part of the story and the energy the photos exude — not just as an outside-looking-in type voyeur. The whole process from start to finish is about co-creation and interconnectedness, so why should the viewer be made to feel left out? Be in my weird world with me! The fashion at all levels should be made to feel accessible through photographs. I hope people can see my pictures and gain the confidence to express themselves unapologetically through how they choose to present themselves.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Every time, I pull off a new styled shoot with a team of creative people, the product of that and the energy I receive from that becomes my proudest moment. That ability to keep growing and keep creating more and more work is where I receive the most pride in this job. Also, photographing Heidi Klum at New York Fashion week was pretty cool.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.madelinenorthway.com
- Email: mad@madelinenorthway.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/madelinenorthway
Image Credit:
Tori Aston
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