October 15, 2016

Meet Hollywood Photographer: Nicolette Jackson-Pownall

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicolette Jackson-Pownall.

Nicolette, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I come from a publishing background and I’ve been surrounded by and in love with photography since college. For years I photographed people for the pure pleasure of discovering something beautiful or uniquely captivating about them. But I always thought professional photography was as difficult a career as being a novelist or a painter. And in many respects it is. So I approached the business in fits and starts, doing some commercial work here, covering events there, helping people with their headshots. Until finally this Spring when I just hit a wall professionally. I was losing sleep and stressing out over a job at a really small company and I thought to myself, what I am I doing? If I was going to work this hard and be this anxious all the time, it sure as hell should be on behalf of my own passion, not someone else’s. The stress took me to this emotional point where I really was afraid of looking back on my life and thinking to myself, Christ, why didn’t just go for it? The fear of not jumping finally outweighed my fear of hitting the pavement. So began building a business plan and a portfolio that would support the kind of boutique portrait services I want to provide my clients.

Has it been a smooth road?
There is nothing smooth about trying to find the courage to commit to one’s passion in a field so rife with disheartening stories about people going bankrupt, selling out, giving up and or never making a decent living at something they truly loved. The business aspect has nothing to do with one’s abilities as a photographer. I’ve always known that to be a successful business owner I’d have to be prepared to be multiple people at once…marketer, salesperson, technician, artist, visionary, storyteller, among others. I’m really just beginning on so many levels but I’m hoping that all the professional experience I’ve gained over the years as a journalist, an advertising executive, a digital marketer, and by and large a people person to the hilt will combust to get me where I need to go. I still have so much to learn and yet what I’m really good at, the people part, the seeing part, that has been with me from the start.

So, what should we be on the lookout for, what’s next in store for you?
Immediate plans include developing partnerships with local media and PR companies in Los Angeles in order to establish editorial ties while I continue to build the private portrait side of the business. I would love to work on assignments covering the doers and makers in our community who are involved in the arts, media, entertainment and non-profit sectors. There are so many inspiring stories out there and if I could put both my journalistic and photographic skills to work on behalf of telling them, well that would be a very satisfying way to work indeed.

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