Meet Rachel Livermore

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Livermore.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in the small town of Le Roy, New York. I was fortunate enough that my high school was very supportive and encouraging of our music and arts department. I think that is what helped foster and grow my creativity. However, we didn’t have any sort of photography classes. Which is funny because that’s the time my interest in photography began. My dad had given a simple point-and-shoot Kodak camera for Christmas when I was in ninth grade. I started out just taking simple little pictures of flowers, my dog and cat–you know, basic, easy things. Eventually, I began to understand composition better, and with that, my shots began to improve. A lot of people noticed that I had a natural eye, one of those people being my dad.

He probably never knew that my little hobby would one day become my passion and career. Still, though, he helped invest in that hobby, and he upgraded my little camera into something more heavy duty. When my senior year came around, I decided to do something that hadn’t been seen before, and I entered in some of my photographs along with my other paintings into my senior showcase.

Other students in the grades below me had seen my work and asked me to take their senior pictures, so I began to use my mom’s canon rebel to get better shots. After a few sessions, I was asked to photograph a wedding later that year. I’ve been growing my client base and my style ever since then.

Please tell us about your art.
With every session, whether it’s a couples session, a wedding, senior pictures, etc. I try to put a creative twist to it. There’s a story to tell, a moment to share, and I want to help tell that story in the pictures that I take.

My creative process is a little scattered. I can have the “big picture” in my mind, but for the most part, I’m making it up as I go. (I feel like that’s what art is a good chunk of the time, just going with the flow.) I draw inspirations for my shoots starting with the location most of the time. Which comes in handy for any session, but especially for a creative project, I’m working on. I just let my mind start to wander, and it slowly starts to come together, kind of like an out of focus picture. I can see the outline, but not the details. But as I take in the surroundings more and more, the possibilities begin to unfold. I’m also inspired by other photographers on social media. They help me to push myself to be more creative, and they also help give me inspiration when I feel like I’m stuck.

I mentioned my creative projects earlier. Coming from a small town, you don’t have much room to be as creative as you want–especially when you’re surrounded by corn fields all the time! You really have to just go exploring to find those hidden gems, but you should also be able to get creative with what you have, where you are. That being said, the same thing goes for finding models who would want to participate in these creative endeavors. I’m going to be 100% honest, most of my models I have found at the grocery store, at school, or just in passing. I literally would just give them a compliment and then abruptly just ask, “So listen, I have this idea in mind for a photo shoot, and I think you would be perfect for it! Wanna help me bring my idea to life?” Did it work? Not all of the time, but a good chunk of the time it did!

The reason it doesn’t work sometimes is because those people will say to me, “Oh I’m not pretty enough for that” or, “I’m bad at getting my picture taken.” It breaks my heart to hear these things. Personally, I believe that anyone can have their picture taken and be a “model,” you just need the right person to give you the guidance, and confidence in order to feel comfortable enough. Everyone deserves the chance to feel pretty, confident, and special. And that’s what I want people to see from my work. I want them to see the beauty and potential in everything.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
I think the biggest challenge artists face today is social media. It’s a double-edged sword because, on one hand, it’s fantastic for getting your work seen and out there. There are so many opportunities for you to connect with fellow artists, as well as potential clients. You can get inspired by others, but you can also get discouraged with your own work because you start to compare yourself to all of those people you admire. I often catch myself doing that exact same thing. And once you start doing it, it’s so hard to not just give up because “your work will never be that good, so why bother?” But if you were to scroll down far enough into their feed, you’ll see that their work didn’t start out as amazing as you think. Everyone starts somewhere. And everyone has worked, practiced, failed and tried over and over to get to be where they are today.

One other challenge I feel that we face is the community/towns we are in. For example, coming from a small town, you can imagine that there’s not much support for you to start and grow a career in the arts field. I’ve only recently moved out here to California. Specifically, I’ve only been here for about three months. But in that short time, I’ve had so many opportunities to work with models and alongside other photographers, because the community out here supports artists. Honestly, depending on where you are living, it can either slowly kill your dreams or help them grow and flourish.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can check out my work on my personal Instagram @insta_graham1995 or my new business one @shutterandceremony. I have a website you can view www.shutterandceremony.com which also has a blog on it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shutterandceremony.com/rachel
• Email: shutterandceremony@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insta_graham1995/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shutterandceremony/

 

Image Credit:
Rachel Livermore

Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.