We were lucky to catch up with Beth Cleveland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Beth , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

Kindness has shown up for me in so many ways throughout my journey of pursuing photography. I believe that in such a subjective field, kindness is something that has kept me going and growing as a business owner, an artist, and as a person. Everyone has a preference for art in general and as much as you’d hope everyone will connect with the work you’re creating, it’s not always going to shake out that way. But, I’ve found that even if someone doesn’t choose to become a client, but tells someone close to them about me or even just interacts with my work online, it has always resulted in connections that lead me to being able to work with people who may not have seen my work prior to that exposure.

I think that’s the biggest kindness someone has shown me, to maybe not be in a place to work with me or having an appreciation for a different approach to photography, but taking the time to help me find people who do. Very thankful for that.

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 an upstate New Yorker who is photographing couples and their weddings, and being lucky enough to grow with those couples as they add to their families as well. I’ve always appreciated photography and it’s something that has grown with me in all the different chunks of my life, weaving into any and every job I’ve ever had; which truly none of them had anything to do with photography at all (ha). It has allowed me to really be myself and attract people that gravitate towards that, both with clients and other creatives, which is so incredibly cool.

I really never thought I could dive into this field in this big way, so I’m just taking things session by session and enjoying being apart the process while providing a lot of love and care for the people that choose to have me be a teeny tiny part of their lives.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think the hardest thing to convey about creative avenues for work is that there’s no real right answer to anything, and you never know if you’re doing too much or too little — like, ever. Staying true to yourself but also being open to different techniques and approaches is sometimes confusing, it’s tough to find that steady confidence as you also change as a person too, it’s all ebbing and flowing.

Living in that gray area I think is what I think a lot people that may have more clear objective jobs would not understand, but that’s really the beautiful part about having a creative profession.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect for me is that it fulfills this professional and personal want and need of mine to show people that I really care about them. I want to be a positive and safe person that they can lean on and share in these joyful moments with and this work allows me to do that. It’s kinda strange how much of an insight I get into the lives of others, and I love to live in that strange.

Also, when chatting with friends and acquaintances about work I learn more and more that a lot of people clock in and they clock out of their jobs, and tend to check that work at the door and find joy outside of it. The job isn’t apart of their identity by any means, and that works for so many people having that separation. In those moments I just feel so lucky that being a photographer is a huge part of me that I’m proud of and it lives with me all of the time. Of course there are moments where I’d love to pretend that I can leave my workload at the door and not have to always be aware that I’m the only person that’s going to do it, but it’s way too wonderful to let those few moments change my perspective on what I get to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bethclevelandphotography.com
• Instagram: bethclevelandphoto