Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Stevens.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I received my first camera as a gift upon graduating high school, and truthfully, the complexity of the camera equipment and photo editing software intimidated me endlessly. At the time, I was about to head to college in Virginia to begin a Division 1 athletic career and pursue my dream of playing field hockey for the USA National Team. My gifted camera pretty much sat idle in my dorm room while I chased my athletic dreams and worked towards a degree in Marketing. It wasn’t until I had an athletic career-ending concussion that I decided to ditch my Olympic pursuit and dust off the camera for fun. That turned out to be the devastating push I needed to get my creative career off the ground.
I started taking portraits of friends and gradually moved on to reaching out to brands and offering free photos in exchange for product. It was all for fun, until I began receiving offers for paid gigs and international travel projects from brands who discovered my work through Instagram. Gradually, these paid gigs became my full-time job. I now own a social media and content creation agency called Roam Creative.
Please tell us about your work.
I’m a brand photographer who specializes in a few types of photography: lifestyle, travel, and philanthropy. If a brand needs photos for their website, product catalog, or Instagram, they can hire me to create a vision for the photoshoot, scout models and locations, and bring the vision to life. This is a pretty large chunk of what I do. I own an agency called Roam Creative, and we do photography and social media management for lifestyle brands. We especially love working with brands who give back through their business.
That brings me to my most treasured area of work: philanthropy photography. I work with some social enterprises whose for-profit business models donate time and money to directly create change within international communities. They hire me to travel with them and tell the stories of the environmental, social, and economic issues facing communities abroad, as well as the positive changes taking place due to their giving.
I’ve slept in villages in the poorest parts of India and have trekked through the Andes Mountains in order to reach villages and tell their stories. This is ultimately why I love being a photographer — it gives me a platform to help people and brands tell their stories.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I feel successful in my art when I know my work has made an impact — on a brand’s sales, on an advertising campaign, on a campaign for a non-profit, as the header of a website, etc.
As an artist, it’s important to dance with uncertainty and to place yourself in uncomfortable spaces that’ll allow you to grow. We all deal with self-doubt and uncertainty. But when we can embrace the discomfort of it and create anyways, I think that’s where success is ultimately found.
I am constantly working on my editing skills, booking photoshoots even when they feel out of my wheelhouse, and honing in on what it is I really want people to take away from my work…none of these things feel comfortable to me. But the more I challenge myself to grow past uncertainty, the closer I get to blossoming into the fullness of our work. Meaningful and impactful artwork requires years of thought and preparation.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can see some of my work on my Instagram, @lindzisme, and on my agency’s Instagram, @roam.creative. I also house my photography work on my agency’s website — www.roam-creative.com. You can support my work by giving me a follow on the gram and shooting me a message. I love connecting with people on there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.roam-creative.com
- Email: hello@roam-creative.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindzisme/
Image Credit:
@lindzisme
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