Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Thomas-Stagg.
Kathy, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
A lot of photographers say they grew up with a camera in their hands. Not me. I didn’t find out that I had any skill or passion with photography until I entered college and had to take a photojournalism class as a requirement for my journalism major. This was before the digital age (Am I really that old?) and everything was still done on film. I was fascinated by film developing and editing and slowly became very interested in photographing candid of people and telling stories through the photographs I created.
I interned at a local newspaper and quickly realized that photojournalism, while exciting, didn’t fit my personality–editors were having me chase down house fires and car wrecks, and my heart just couldn’t take it, so I took a break and dabbled in landscape and nature photography.
Fast forward to when my first son was born, and I found myself enamored with taking photographs of my little boy growing up and his adventures along the way. We moved back to my home town to be close to family and friends and I took a leap of faith and took on a job as a photo assistant to a photographer and I was hooked. Not only did I love taking photographs of my own children, but I adored capturing special moments for other families and couples. Today, I own my own photography business and studio and specialize in lifestyle newborn, children, family and wedding photography, and I am loving each day that I get to work with amazing families and couples.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
That’s a big question! I suppose I’d say I help create a gift for people to hold onto and to pass along to the most important people in their lives. I photograph some of the most important moments in their lives (newborn babies, weddings, anniversaries, etc.) and what some might consider the uneventful parts of their lives (updating their annual family photo, etc.). I find that both instances are of equal importance. Time goes by so quickly that even a family’s annual photo session with me becomes an important piece in remembering their family/children’s history and growing up. I want my photographs to become a part of a person or family’s story that they can pass on from generation to generation.
How? Honestly, I’m still trying to figure that out. Right now, my main goal for families and couples that come to me is that they have fun and feel comfortable around me. If I achieve those two goals then a lot of the “magic” happens naturally and I get the joy of capturing photographs that illustrate who these families are, what their children look like, how they have fun, what a couple about to get married looks like, newly in love, how they are engrossed in each other. That’s where I find my own joy.
My “why” has a lot of different layers. First, I LOVE capturing real photographs of real people, and there’s an amazing challenge of doing that with people that I barely know (on most occasions). I love the artistry that comes with composing a great photograph–figuring out the sun, the pose, getting the emotion to come out of the people in front of my lens–it’s a pretty amazing process. Also, I’m a huge people pleaser–I love to see people happy and being the one making them happy, and who isn’t happy when they get a wonderful photograph full of love of them and their family? I also do it for my family—owning my own business and letting my boys see what it means to work hard and do something love, well, I’m hoping it inspires them to do the same.
The thing that I hope people take away from a session with me is a feeling of love, fun, happiness, and reverence for what we’ve just captured–something they can treasure, a frozen moment, and can pass down for generations.
What I want most for people to take away from the artwork they receive from me is that I was able to capture something they never thought I could and that it makes them smile (or happy cry) when they see it again and again. Each of my sessions are centered around fun and giggles and cuddles–all things that I hope bring my couples and families happiness.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
Find inspiration from other photographers/artists but don’t compare. Even today, after years in the photography business, I struggle with this–comparing my work to other photographers–and, at times, it can steal the joy out of my work. I really fight against that.
I would also tell new a photographer to go easy on yourself. Photography, like any art, is always changing and growing, and photographers should be allowed to do the same. You will learn more, you will get better if you work hard at it, and you will be a different photographer year from now. Allow yourself that room to grow and learn and keep finding that joy that got you into the art to begin with. Also, make sure to learn not just the art side of things, but the business side of photography. That’s what will solidify your success. If I could do it all again I would most certainly have gone to school for business or at least taken some business classes.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work is posted mostly online–you can find it at:
www.tstaggphotography.com
www.facebook.com/tstaggphotography
www.instagram.com/tstaggphotography
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tstaggphotography.com
- Phone: 217-722-7121
- Email: tstaggphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tstaggphotograph
Image Credit:
T-Stagg Photography
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