Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamara Muth King.
Tamara, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was always an artsy child, I made clothes for my Barbies, dabbled with paints and decorated cakes. When I was younger, I danced in a local ballet company in the town where I grew up, played a variety of woodwinds and percussion instruments, and decided to major in art as an undergraduate.
I had never taken an art class before in my life, and my mother actually came to my school in Baltimore and asked my advisor if I had any talent. I wasn’t the best painter or sculptor, but I was classically trained in all mediums and was proficient at everything. I really fell in love with photography in the darkroom at school, and I loved the immediacy of photography, even though it was still the days of film and processing.
I spent my last year of college in Paris at the Sorbonne and was able to take classes around the city at the Academie des Beaux Arts, and a few other colleges. It was an eye-opening experience, and I had bought a tiny little Olympus rangefinder to take with me to school. I photographed student riots, my beautiful roommate and as much as I could afford in black and white film and processing. Paris became a catalyst for an interesting series of events that really taught me “how” to shoot.
On my way to class one day, I was stopped by a Japanese street style photographer and reporter. They photographed me for a “Parisian Street Style” story for a Japanese magazine. I was wearing a khaki 1985 Banana Republic safari dress, denim jacket, ankle boots, and my cropped hair. I thought it was hilarious because I was American. It wasn’t the only time that I would be stopped for a Japanese magazine…
When I graduated from college, I worked for an amazing photographer, Helen Norman, as production and photo assistant. It was such a great education. One snowy day, we had an editorial shoot, and the trains were being shut down between New York and Baltimore, and a few of the models couldn’t get to the set. They threw the wardrobe on me, and it was my first job as a model. I want to mention that I’m 5’4″ tall, not exactly model height.
I walked into Ford models in New York and signed with their petite division, then switched to Wilhelmina on their main board, was scouted on the streets of New York by a Japanese agency. Worked in Tokyo and Milan, and learned almost everything I know about how to shoot from being on the other side of the camera. I worked as a regular camera and lighting assistant in Baltimore, so I had that type of training and skill set, and I definitely paid my dues in sweat and grime.
I know models turn photographers all the time, but I will say that there is something about being directed by a good photographer, feeling where the light is, knowing how to make clothing work in a shot, and absorbing all of the details that made for gorgeous imagery that makes for an incredible education.
I fell in love with a Southern California surfer dude in my pensione in Milan when I was there working and drove across the country solo when I got back to the US. I didn’t fit into the modeling world in LA, with my pixie hair and non-voluptuous body at the time.
So I worked in an entertainment agency, then Sebastian International producing their educational hair shows, and that’s where I had my first published photograph. I was testing for agencies in LA and really had a reportage/lifestyle element to my work, and agencies trusted me with their new faces because I was protective of not exploiting them in the photos.
In my late 20’s, I got married to the surfer dude, and we were married for 17 years. We had two daughters, and when I became a mom, I put my career on hold to raise my girls. I shot a family portrait here or there, but my focus was my children and being there for them full-time. I don’t regret a thing in my choice to make my family my priority.
I turned down big jobs for family vacations and school promotions. Jobs come and go, but the time with your family can’t really be done over. My girls are 20 and 21 now, both away at university and I’m incredibly busy shooting. Saying yes to every opportunity that interests me, and spending my time shooting as much as possible and editing at the weirdest hours, because no one else is at home.
I’m just enjoying the ride of work as long as possible, and really trying to figure out who I am as a single woman (for almost eight years), of a certain age, who has an empty nest (except for the dog).
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Has it been a smooth road, hell no!
Professionally: Stopping a career to just strictly parent was almost career suicide. Getting back on the radar, being relevant it’s all a challenge. Also, when I started shooting film and processing put me so far into debt, that and printing 11×14 prints for five different books that needed to be sent Fed-ex to potential clients. Even now, there is the hustle of work, that isn’t nearly as enjoyable as shooting with clients.
Personally: My youngest daughter was injured during birth, and at the time it was my worst case scenario. I met amazing women at Children’s Hospital when she was three weeks old, saintly mothers that would have to care for their children for the rest of their lives. It was a reality check that I needed just to become an advocate for my daughter.
I still feel like I couldn’t give my oldest daughter attention that she needed, and my husband at the time had a really difficult time processing what reality was and could be in the future. Balancing personal and professional parts of my life aren’t so easy for me.
Right now, I really don’t have a personal life, other than the things I do for myself, but I am all in for work.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I think my lifestyle work really sets me apart. Capturing moments that feel and real, and using as much natural light as humanly possible. I love shooting bodies in motion and have found my way into the health and wellness world, which is a great place to be in.
Also, I worked in children’s advertising for quite a while as a photographer, so I learned how to shoot fast and know when to call a shot.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’m looking forward to expanding my client base, shooting more bigger projects, and meeting more amazing humans along the way. Falling in love with myself and someone else, ok it’s not work-related, but it’s a future plan. Maybe moving to another country when the girls are out of university.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.muthking.xyz
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: tmuthking
Image Credit:
Tamara Muth King, Lucky Blue Smith, Caley Alyssa, Todd McCullough of TMac Fitness, Krista Stryker of the 12 Minute Athlete, Giorgi Antinori, Marc Lucero, Calvin Corzine, Britt and Tara of Elevate the Globe
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