Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Blair Speed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Blair, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The mission of my company and the responsibility of a photographer, in my opinion, is to gift back images to a client where they feel fully seen. I believe the interaction of a photographer and subject is a Venn Diagram of souls and the images captured is the liminal space shared between the two: the place where the spirits meet is when the camera clicks. When someone looks at an image I’ve taken of them, I never want them to shrink, I want them to naturally and effortlessly stand taller, feel confident, and to know they were seen. I want them to feel celebrated.

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 grew up taking images on my mother’s film camera, it’s how my family learned I had terrible eyesight. I’d look through the lens, adjust the focus to my eyes, and then exclaim, “You mean you’re supposed to see individual leaves on trees?!” Looking through the lens gave me a better sense of my world.

16 years ago I moved from Florida to Montana, where I didn’t know anyone but had an eager desire to explore. I met Stacy Townsend the day I arrived at the ranch I began working at, she was the photographer. She encouraged, accepted, and taught me so much right from the beginning of our friendship. “You are a photographer,” she would say to me over and over. I would shrug it off, feeling like I couldn’t possibly be something so mystical as an artist, as a photographer, all while following her around constantly. I’d watch Stacy witness our world, snap pictures, and then gift those moments back to people. I watched how moved people were to receive those gifts of life back. Stacy believes everything is “figure-out-able” and has a wildly life affirming belief in the abundance of creativity. In her eyes, in her heart, there is space for all creatives. She always encouraged me. She valued me and introduced me to a part of myself that I might have let lay dormant if I had never met her. Part of our connection we shared was the respect I had for her and her valuing me, I didn’t assume she would just become my mentor because I was interested in photography. She didn’t owe me that. But I am forever grateful for her insight and care to become one. She encouraged me to become a professional photographer persistently and enthusiastically.

5 years ago my husband died unexpectedly at the age of 33. I didn’t realize the true value of a photograph until I lost him. I didn’t know the gift that an image can truly bring to our lives. When my mind is fuzzy and I can’t bring him into focus, I can look back at an image and he is so crisp and clear. It reminds me of when I first looked through the lens and could see leaves for the first time. There he is in all of his stunning glory and I don’t have to worry about losing him all over again through the changes of memory. He never fades in my mental mind because I have so many portraits to reference of him. I get to keep a part of him through all the images I took. I see him. And, I see my endless love for him in every shot. This helps me better connect with the humanity of all of us and learn the value of a photograph in each of our lives.

I have owned my business, Speed Creative, for almost 10 years now. Shooting for national companies across our beautiful country, for local businesses, a few small personal shoots a year and always my own personal art photography and exhibitions so my own heart gets to speak as well. Photography helps me share how I see the world and how moved I am by space, light, and the hearts of who I get to meet.

Photography helped me speak before I was brave enough to share my words. Now, over the past several years, I’ve added writing and speaking to my professional life.

I am grateful for a creative life and I hope our culture always respects and supports art and artists.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Every photographer has a different lens and focus, some focus on journey, while others can’t help but think of outcome. I believe focusing on the client and wanting to witness without taking from them helped me build an environment where people feel seen and valued and never used. I think it’s really important to focus on creating and not on consuming. I don’t want to consume subjects, I want to create with them. It’s really important for me to have a shared experience and to be in the moment versus thinking of an outcome from a shoot. This energy and dynamic impacts the physical space of a shoot and the outcome of the shot. People feel the difference of these energies. I believe making people feel valued, included, and appreciated helped build my reputation of caring deeply, honoring space, and providing images that reflect those values.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I say that creative work is like cheese-grading a part of your heart onto the work that you do. You offer up an incredibly deep, personal, and emotional aspect of yourself. You put those heart-parts into your work. This is what makes each creative work unique – the heart parts show through, creating something that can’t be bought at big box stores. It’s also why people can connect so deeply with different artists, their heartbeats can be heard in the work that they do, it resonates.

It also means that artists need a rebuilding, regrowing, replenishing time after the work. There has to be regeneration, the heart has to grow back, to be able to strip off parts of that beating chamber again and put it back into the work. People value and connect with this deep work on a soul level but don’t always understand the financial support that allows for space around a creative endeavor. If we want the type of creative work that helps us remember our shared humanity, if we want to hear the Lub Dub of a heartbeat in a piece of art, we have to support and value artists.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blairspeedcreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blairspeed/
• Other: https://blairspeed.substack.com

Image Credits

All images on the previous page are ones I have taken: Blair Speed