Why do so many mormon women think they should be professional photographers? It seems like every time I turn around another mormon woman has started her own photography "business."
Because she has a nice camera, knows how to over saturate and over brighten photos, and has way too much time on her hands and needs a quick source of income.
And, for what it's worth, it's easy to luck into a few good shots with little knowledge, and when Mormon Woman has little education and little opportunity to pursue more education, well, it's either trendy handy crafts or trendy photos.
Seriously. Utah is filled with female photographers. They are a dime a dozen. I think almost all my female TBM friends on facebook are professional photographers.
could it be for the same reason that lately every tithing wit MORmON couple that gets married in the temple thinks that their wedding slide show should be put on Youtube because everybody wants to see their special secret handshaking that they cant openly talk about to make sex OK with MORmON Jesus day?
Agreed - I also have a ton of friends on FB that have photography businesses. One is actually really talented, despite her lack of education. Another has a degree in photography from the U and a third has a journalism degree from UCLA, which she morphed into photography after years of working for a major newspaper before she finally married in her late 20s. Those are the only ones who have actual training or talent but there are quite a number more who want me to "like" their photography business. I know from the friend with the actual degree in photography that it's so much more complicated than these young Mormon mommies think it is and her work is correspondingly streets ahead of theirs.
grumble grumble grumble.......I was a photography assistant to my ex before we divorced. I did my time, following his amateur arse around, while chomping at the bit to snap the pics myself. When we ditched the film and went digital, he had no interest in learning it. So I did it on my own.
It irritates me still, that my own photography skills began to be developed at the same time it became popular with the sahm Mormon mommy crowd.
I've tried really hard to separate myself from the cheesy, overprocessed photos. I see so much of that, and really, a lot of people are looking for that, but its not me. And I usually work by word of mouth, no gimmicks or sales pressure.....again, not me.
I'm patient......I will wait out the trend. But it *is* one of my biggest peeves.
Let's not forget blogging. I find myself oddly fascinated by perky, happy Mormon mommy blogs. There are also a slew of single Mormon mother blogs, all complete with horror stories, just as a reminder of what happens when the masks come off.
Everyone looking nice and happy and retouched in an idealized situation. Oooo, Love at Home!
But to be fair, here on the East Coast, the park across from my house is a favorite site for portrait photographers. Most of them are women. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. Women are the main customers for family photography. Female photographers are more likely to have the same tastes as their customers. Secondly, it's a rough time in the photo business. It's hard to be the sole breadwinner in a family. But it can work as supplemental income. They can shoot for a few hours every couple of weeks, then shoehorn in the image manipulation and printing when there's time, like late at night. It's a much more flexible schedule.
and is a prof photographer there. She's great. She did my other nomo niece's wedding in Missouri a couple of months ago. She told me privately that she won't do weddings in Utah, because all it is is endless receiving lines, maybe punch, and then everyone leaves. At this wedding the reception lasted a good 7 hours with no line.
I think it has more to do with the whole mormon woman RS craft projects thing that makes them think "hey, I can do that!" when they see something in a store that they can make for cheaper. They probably can't do it as well, or at all, but they can't afford the store-bought one with 6 kids to house and feed on one income.
I'm a jeweler, and I see it in my business. I'm in Colorado, so it's not just Mormons.
Mormon Mommy Photography is the new real estate agent or mortgage broker. Careers that have little barrier or education to entry. Simply a drivers license and a mini van will qualify...
Facebook is rife with mormon mom-ographers and its making me crazy, too! I never thought to make a post here about it. I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed, though.
A friend of a friend of mine is also a Mormon SAHM and a photographer. She will photograph people for free (not just a free session but several images free of charge, too)...but the catch is that, if they are non-Mos, they have to agree to a visit from Mormon missionaries. Seriously.
I found this out when I'd admired some beautiful photos of my friend's family, and she told me how her photographer friend would "even do a session for you for nothing...." To be fair, my friend did inform me what the catch was right away. I politely declined.
In a way, I wouldn't mind a chance to debate mishies (it's not like I haven't done it before) in exchange for good-quality photographs, but my husband would have had a fit. Plus, I feared it wouldn't have stopped at one visit.