We were lucky to catch up with Leigh Ann Edmonds recently and have shared our conversation below.
Leigh Ann, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
One of the more meaningful projects I have encountered over my photographic career has been the project I’ve given myself to document my hometown. For over 15 years, I was committed to focusing on meaningful work for clients and their families, special occasions and events that I often forgot to document my own life.
It wasn’t until the pandemic of 2020 that I finally had free time with no bookings to commit to my own personal work and I haven’t looked back since.
The commitment I made to myself four years ago has since opened new doors and changed the whole direction of my career. I feel my work has reached new depth and meaning. My current work does not focus only on perfection and superficial appearance as it once did but rather, I feel the images are more soulful with attention to narrative.
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 discovered photography at a very young age and knew right away that I was born to create but didn’t know in what way. It took many years of trial and error before I answered my calling into the fine art world of photography. For many years I thought it was my calling to be a full-time professional photographer but after spending 10 years in this field, I realized my mission in photography is more than just to get paid and make people look their best.
I want to create work that will be passed down for generations, to open eyes about different ways of life and most importantly, I want my work to focus on our likenesses, not differences. My mission is to show the “humanness” in humans!
Since committing to the decision to create for me, I have had the honor to showcase my personal work on many levels from solo exhibitions to invitations on podcast as well as bringing awareness to the art of documentary photography.
My work is about making a difference and the only way I felt I could do this was to branch out from mainstream photography.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The main goal and driving force behind my photography is this is the work I will leave behind after I’m gone. It’s my legacy. It’s a way for me to share with others how I truly see the world without direction or control from a client.
There came a point in my career where I was tired of money dictating my decisions with where I would shoot or how I would shoot. I feel it took me learning how to balance my personal work alongside paid commissioned work.
We all have different creative and professional goals, so when I realized my goal was no longer to make my primary income with photography, it helped free me from the expectations and allowed me to create without consideration if people would accept the work or not.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The hardest lesson I had to unlearn when I first made the commitment to shoot for me again was to shoot without worrying if other people liked my work. I had been conditioned for many years to shoot for client approval that it took some time getting used to just getting out there to create again.
So much of today’s photography is based on approval ratings and likes that it often-times can restrict you creatively. Re-learning how to shoot without expectations from clients has actually allowed me to break more creative boundaries because I allow my work to have a life of it’s own.
My advice to any creative out there is to never stop creating for you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.LeighAnnEdmonds.com
- Instagram: LeighAnnEdmonds
- Facebook: LeighAnnEdmondsOfficial
