Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbey Prow.
Abbey, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I guess the biggest turning point in my story came as I was a sophomore in college. I was attending the University of Missouri exploring hard classes like Peace Studies and my social life, but still making good grades, when I realized I was almost done with my general ed courses and would soon need to declare a major. The University wanted me to declare what I was going to do with my life and had absolutely no idea.
I grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis. I was active and dreamy, and a little bit ditzy. But mostly, I loved stories and art in its many forms. At 20, I was still painting, and writing, and creating in any way I could imagine but having no idea how I could turn that into a career. Then, after a late night internet search and a weird breakup (because way too many life changes are a catalyst by a weird breakup), I surprised everyone (including myself) by announcing my acceptance and plans to attend film school the following semester.
I graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Film/Video and concentration in Screenwriting and Cinematography. It was the first time I saw that art could be a business and that the creative process and collaboration could yield some inspirational results. I was enamored with so much about filmmaking but I realized very quickly that I did not want to go into the studio system and I had fallen too in love with Chicago to head west. So, I kept my waitress job, got a beautiful video camera, and shot pretty much anything people would pay me for (and way too much that I was not paid for). I made a lot of connections and shot everything from music videos to weddings and anniversary parties and everything in between and beyond. I loved the creative freedom of the shooting aspect but absolutely hated the editing. I found it tedious and, quite frankly, I wasn’t charging enough to cover the long hours I was putting in. So I got another day job as well and tried to shoot on the weekends. This continued for a couple years but I was working all the time and was really close burning out when a friend asked me to take photos of their baby. I couldn’t see a reason why not. After all, a lot of the elements in photography are the same as videography, and filmmaking is just taking a photo 24times a second. I believe I ended up borrowing a camera for that first shoot and an old version of photoshop that I installed onto my desktop and learned from a friend. All it took was one hour of taking photos of a newborn and I was hooked. I loved the creativity and the immediacy of shooting digitals. I soon traded my pro video camera for a pro DSLR and began shooting as much as possible.
About 7 years ago, I quit my “day job” and devoted myself to grow a photography business full time. Since then I’ve shot promotion and product for a national fashion company, done headshots and promo images for several models and actors with international agencies, and captured memories and life moments for hundreds of families. One of the most amazing and inspirational things to witness is a lot of those connections I made back in film school and when I was hustling at sales and bartender jobs over a decade ago are coming into their own as artists and business people as well. It is truly wonderful to witness the growth in other artists you admire and work with people you admire as they become instrumental in the communities we came up in. I absolutely love what I do and continue to grow both my skill set as an artist and my resources as a business. I love connecting with people and capturing their beautiful, intense, intimate moments. Whether it’s capturing the precious details of someone’s new business and helping portray their brand or the first days with a new baby, or even their last days with a beloved family member, I am completely devoted to life’s little details and lovely connections. My style tends to lean towards saturated colors and connections with the camera and each other. I have also recently started exploring more fantasy and composite images and am really enjoying the results. I just find myself lucky to be thriving in a career where I can continue to grow, learn, and make art.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has definitely been a struggle at times to pursue my passion. I think my biggest obstacle has been and continues to be knowing my worth as an artist and a business professional. Especially as a woman, we are so often concerned with pleasing others, that we devalue or dismiss our own needs. I know this has definitely been true in my professional past. Sometimes it is easy to confuse good customer service with being a pushover, or wanting to provide service at the expense of my bottom line. One of the best pieces of advice I got was that you cannot help anyone else until you help yourself and that it is ok to not be everyone’s ideal provider. If my bottom line as a business is not being met then the business cannot survive to provide service to the next client. And if I take on too many clients at a lower price to meet my bottom line, then, customer service and turn around time suffers. Burn out is a very real danger for a lot of photographers. It took me way too long to realize that I am worth a living wage and that my art and service has value.
In a similar vein, the other biggest challenge was self-doubt about the quality and vision of my work. There are so many amazing photographers out there and so many inspired artists who throw it down every day, it is easy to have doubts. For a short time, when I finally quit all of my sales and side jobs and committed myself to this business, I thought “well I have to produce work like so and so to be profitable.” So, I tried to replicate another artists’ style or was even shooting genres I wasn’t well versed in al with so-so results. Not only was the final product not the greatest, but I was also stressed and uninspired with the work I was doing. Finally, after getting so stressed and falling behind in editing by trying to replicate a style that was not my own, I just gave up and pushed through by editing the way that was authentic to me and ended up loving the results. It was a great lesson that an authentic voice is always the most pleasant to listen to. I continue to grow my skill set by taking classes, maintaining and upgrading gear, and investing in new props/backdrops but now it’s not about keeping up with someone else but rather to perfect and grow my own vision. I have all of these ideas and get excited to pick up my camera each and every time!
Please tell us about Abbey Lauren Photography.
I am a portrait photographer. I would say 75% of my business is newborn and family portraits but I really love photographing all types of people in all walks of life. I have always worked with children in some capacity, and it is something I know I am good at. I think it helps that I am often just a big kid myself so there is usually a connection there. I love saturated colors and showing the true connections between families as well as with a connection to my camera.
What makes my business and my process stand out is that I love to collaborate with my clients. Whether corporate, commercial or family portrait I want and draw inspiration from my clients’ story and their unique visions. Being a one-woman business can be lonely and I love the collaboration aspect. Also, it’s probably the filmmaker in me but I tend to overshoot and I love my clients to choose which images most speak to them. I feel each frame is a part of the story and often times some of my favorite passages are different from the clients’. I allow them to choose from a full (lightly edited) proof album and do offer full album sales as well. All of my finished images are edited by hand and special care is taken to perfect each detail. My goal is to create a piece of art that my client will cherish and feels truly represents them and their family.
Recently, I have been exploring fantasy and composite images and would love to do more work with hand-painted backdrops and fully customized theme sessions. Of course, I love capturing my clients and their families as they are but I am also interested in capturing what the imagination can hold. Unicorn or mermaid sessions, putting the child into their favorite tv show, and turning baby’s first photos into a beautiful piece of art surrounded by flowers or resting on the moon. Again, it is all about collaboration with the client and taking a small idea or favorite interest and turning it into a work of art that is unique to them.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have told myself that being brave is not just doing it all on your own, figuring it all out for yourself.. True bravery is putting yourself out there and risking rejection. I would make it a point to connect with others in the field and being brave enough to ask for help and critique and risk getting rejected. It’s a hard balance between competition and community but I have definitely learned that there are plenty of clients for everyone. The profession can only get stronger by supporting community. I would have asked all of the questions and tried to implement all the answers. Honestly, this is still a lesson I have to remind myself of. I have been extremely lucky with those in my personal life supporting and promoting me and I want to honor that by making the most out of every opportunity that presents itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.abbeylaurenphotography.com
- Phone: (773) 885-5142
- Email: abbeylaurenphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbeylaurenphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abbeylaurenphotography/
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