We recently connected with Eddia Jane Watts and have shared our conversation below.

Eddia Jane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

The first time I knew I wanted to be more of a creative was when I was younger, around the age of ten. This was when I started to write my first book. Writing is in my blood as both of my parents are unpublished–I plan on changing this soon–poets. As I grew older, I realized that the traditional nine-to-five wasn’t for me. At first, I thought that maybe I just wasn’t a hard worker, but I soon realized that I wanted to work for myself and offer my creativity to the world in my own world, and choosing a nine-to-five that makes me happy and pays the bills in the meantime. This is why I now moonlight as a waitress or a barista, as these types of jobs always make me feel better and somehow get my creative juices flowing as well. Once I began working with my photography and creating art in that way, I realized the true power I possess for creating and publishing art on a daily basis, as I don’t publish my books as often as I can showcase my beautiful work with my clients!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a published author, internationally published beauty photographer, editor-in-chief of Effervescence Magazine and overall: A Creative! I started writing as a young child around ten years old and crafting stories with amazing suspensions of belief is one of my favorite things to do. I have published three novels since 2016, with two more coming by the end of this year. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, I started Eddia Jane Photography after having an interest in photography for multiple years. I have photographed over 150 subjects and have been internationally published in Greece! Working with SIGNEDnyc–a modeling consultancy agency–I operate out of their studio in Newark, NJ and have gone on to have my work featured by STATE Management and more. In January of this year, I combined my two loves of photography and writing and added in my newfound love of graphic design and created Effervescence Magazine–a self-help and mental health awareness digital magazine. It has attracted over 200 monthly readers thus far! In everything I do, I want to make as much art as possible for the least amount of money as possible; it is not about the money for me. The money will come eventually, I just want to do things that make me happy at the end of the day. My photography company was based in the fact that I felt as though pageantry photography was to inaccesible to people who were of my socio-economic status in which they would have to save for at least half a year to be able to afford it. So, when I started, I made sure my prices were as low as possible, I’m talking maximum $200. As time has gone on, I have realized the amount/type of work that I want to produce requires a higher price, but I still make sure to keep the original values of being affordable at heart.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In January of 2021, I had my first client try to pull a fast one on me It’ll happen to every business owner eventually, but this client tried to claim that I had nt told her my policies prior to the shoot in order to have more free edits and a usb of all the photos produced. After carefully explaining, they still went on to threaten to call the local news on me. I edited all of the photos within 24 hours–muc faster than I normally would–sent them the USB in a way in which they had to sign for it, and then I sent a strongly worded email to them ceasing all communications. It was the first time in my life that I stood up for myself, but also making sure to cover all of my bases. During these confrontations, I was about to give up hope in photography, but instead I pressed forward, and created a rules list, an official price list, and contracts for my clients to sign all in an effort to protect me. My resilience pressed forward even through this terrible and trying experience.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In my view, I feel as though society can learn to understand art and the creative process as just that–a process. Being creative and creating does not and can not happen within the blink of an eye. Myself and my creative friends–shout out to my favorite Artist Nikki Gal–have all had experiences in which clients have tried to take advantage of us because its easy to think “oh you’re just clicking a button”, but being creative is not that easy. It takes hours of practice and research to stregthen your craft and make sure that you are producing exactly what you want to create.

Contact Info:

• Website: ejwproductions16.wixsite.com/mysite
• Instagram: instagram.com/eddiwatts
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/eddiawatts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiiKWT5YK6qqtDlfl6tQ0Lw
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/effervescence-find-yourself-be-true-to-you/id1603161377

Image Credits
All photos by Eddia Jane Photography