Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Celeste Durham . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Celeste , appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I greatly value the time and experiences it took for me get to where I am now with my work, and though I can’t help at least wonder where my business would be now if I would have taken the grasp towards combining my passions and turning them into a career much sooner, I can’t say that I would change much.
Throughout high school I knew I enjoyed taking photos but didn’t yet know just how much more in depth I could get with expressing what I saw in my mind. Growing up I was consistently drawing characters with very elaborate fantasy-based costumes, but they were only ever on paper, and I had yet to realize the potential combination of those ideas with my love for photography. That is until a few years later when I was working for a portrait studio that followed a more traditional portrait standard. I was starting to fall away from my passion for the camera while struggling to feel creative when a friend came to me asking if I could make a crown to photograph her in, something I had never done at that point. So, not only did I make the crown, but ended up creating a full costume and quickly fell in love with the process all while finally realizing my ideas could be brought to life beyond a drawing on a piece of paper. They could become something more tangible.
There’s a part of me that does wonder where I’d be now if I had pushed myself to take it further sooner, or what If I had been this active in the earlier stages of social media taking off, but I genuinely think I grew into my art when it was time for me to. All the tears, burnt fingers, late nights, the whole range of struggles that have come with the journey are what shaped me into the artist I am today, and put me where I am now, I am grateful for it all.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am Celeste Durham, owner of Beyond Photography by Celeste and artist local to the Midwest region. My main focus is on creative photography and costume design, where I aim to provide a unique experience that goes beyond to create photos of fantasy-based aesthetics and storytelling. I do this by designing and hand crafting a variety of costume pieces like wings, armor & headpieces along with the set itself to achieve the desired expression for each personalized photoshoot. When planning a set with a client I start with a consultation where I can get a feel for the look they want to go for as well as get a better feel for their personality while learning how to use my designs to bring that out in the session. I then will book a fitting day to make sure everything looks how we want and to make any adjustments before the day of the actual session.
I fell in love with photography as a little kid after being mesmerized by my grandfather who always had a camera in his hand taking photos of the family. I wanted to do that so bad, but I was too young for a camera of my own, so I “built” my own camera out of cardboard and pretended to take photos while mouthing a ch-click sound with every “snap”. I would pray that when I passed, I would be able to see all my photos in heaven. Eventually I was allowed disposable cameras, I would beg for a new one every week though my shots were of stray cats, porches, and sidewalk chalk. When I got a bit older, I practiced often with my point & shoot before inheriting my grandfather’s camera, finally taking some classes, and eventually entering competitions. It was a love that was passed down, continuing to grow then and now.
One thing that drives me the most is seeing someone feel amazing during a session or when they share with me how they feel when they see the photos for the first time. Being able to show someone I work with that they are gold and to have the honor of helping bring out their inner god/goddess is priceless and indescribable.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
About two years ago I started having bad pain in my arms with constant body aches and exhaustion even without physical activity. This of course began to make holding my camera a challenge and on “bad days” almost impossible. After a year of tests and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and find out I need surgery on my main shooting arm. I was absolutely scared of potentially not being able to continue to photograph or create pieces. The healing from that surgery took a little over a year and I still struggle daily while having to cut down how often I can work. It might have slowed me down in the beginning, but I won’t stop doing what I am passionate about, I am so grateful to have a bit better of a hold on my health lately and to be back to shooting on a more regular basis.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
A resource I wish I would have utilized more in the beginning, when I was first really starting to expand my creativity, is online tutorials. Utilizing tools available online like Skillshare.com or Bhance.net (linked to Adobe.com) can allow you the opportunity to grow so much more in your field even if it’s not photography related. The range of advice and information you can pick up on these sites is endless and can be precise to what you might be looking to learn but also provide so much more you may not have expected to find.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.beyondphotographybyceleste.com/
- Instagram: BeyondPhotography_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeyondPhotographybyCeleste/