Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chelsea Marrin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Chelsea, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I’ve taken a lot of risks, but one of the biggest was a leap of love. Not a lot of people know this, but I am a big nerd. I build computers with my boyfriend and we game together. In high school, my friend added me to his video gaming group he’s had since he was eleven. It was a group of around twenty people who would play World of Warcraft together. Most people were not from our hometown, they were actually from all over the country ranging from Georgia, Delaware, Illinois, California, even Canada. After years of talking every day and playing games like League of Legends, I would eventually come to call this group very close friends of mine.
In 2016, two of those friends in the gaming group were getting married and invited everyone to meet in person. So my friends and I decided to fly to Georgia and meet up with the group. It was crazy to see everyone in person and put a name to a face. While there, I felt sparks with one of the members of the group. His name was Chris Pepper. At the time, we were both dating other people so I figured it was just a little crush. All night people kept asking if we were dating and we’d say no. Eventually it was time for goodbyes and I flew back to Chicago.
Fast forward to 2020, and the world seems to have ended. Luckily I had my group of gaming friends to hang out with online. Eventually it started to just become Chris and I hanging out every night together till 5 am, waking up and texting, then hanging again. I decided to just say fuck it and tell him I liked him. So I did. I also said, “Why don’t we try this? I’ll come out to visit you”. We both thought I was pretty crazy but we decided to try it. So I decided to go and move to Pittsburgh.
I moved to Pittsburgh and found an Air Bnb to rent for a month. It was this unimaginable place. It was an old Catholic school that a couple bought and turned it into artist lofts. There were so many different artists ranging from ages 20-80. Some were painters, illustrators, musicians, welders, and so much more. Each classroom was their own home loft that they could turn into anything they wanted. I remember walking in the halls of the school and it was covered in murals that the artists made. It is now called Fiasco Art Center and I’m proud I could say that I saw it in it’s early stages.
A few wonderful months into Pittsburgh and Chris shared with me that his job was moving to Washington DC. I said ‘Let’s go to D.C. It’s one step closer to NYC!’ So within a few months, we packed our bags, prepped our cats, and left for D.C. Our plan was to stay a few years in D.C, and during that time I would make trips out to NYC to start making connections so that in five years we could move out there. We got settled in and I did my first big trip to NYC for a portfolio review. The review went great, but work was silent.
It was a month of not knowing what to do, I was slow since moving to a new city with no connections. Then someone from Ralph Lauren emailed me about working with them. They thought I lived in NYC and said they wanted to try me out, so I made another trip out there. Eventually they asked me to work for them for 9 months straight to cover someone who was on paternity leave. I would drive out on Sunday and stay at an Air Bnb for a week then drive back on Friday. I would do this weekly for months until finally Chris found a job in NYC. Our five year plan quickly turned into a one year plan. I look back and think of how insane it was for me to do that.
Within a few months we were living our dream of being in NYC and I’ve never looked back since. So from 2020-2022 I moved from Chicago to Pittsburgh, to DC, to NYC, found the love of my life, made an insane career move, and so much more. All thanks to that initial leap of faith!
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 a photographer that is going to give you more then just a photo, I want to give you an emotion when looking at my work. Growing up I used photography not just as a creative activity, but as a kind of therapy. My life was not hard, but there’s always been chaos that surrounds it. I think that’s why I fell in love with photography as a career. It’s not this stable job, it’s this crazy rollercoaster that you don’t know where you’ll end up. I believe because of the challenges I have faced in my crazy life, it grew one of my most important skills; empathy. With this skill, I am able to really connect with a subject and bring their emotion to life.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I think my entire professional journey has required resilience, honestly. From the earliest times in my life I was told that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. People would make bets behind my back on whether or not I would actually become a photographer. That made me depressed for awhile, but eventually it became a fuel for a fire within me. And that fire pushed me to do a lot of really awesome things, like moving to Louisville Kentucky for a photography internship. I had teachers telling me at the time that it was dumb, and would lead nowhere. Instead, I learned more about lighting than I ever did at school. I also met some of the most successful people I know to this day. From there I found success assisting and digital teching, but even then, the doubt from others never really stopped, it just changed shape. Far too often people would badger me with questions to test my knowledge, or watch over my shoulder to make sure I knew what I was doing. I’ve been put in some very uncomfortable situations where most people would not have come back to work, but I did. I really want to make this industry better in that regard, and a part of that is taking these moments as lessons on how not to treat people. I keep all of them in mind when interacting with my teams and subjects on photoshoots, because I want to build a place that is safe, and I want everyone to walk away with a positive experience.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
It’s been hard not to doubt myself sometimes. I’ve always loved photography, but making it as a freelancer in this industry can be incredibly difficult. There were times when I considered taking a full time role somewhere, or even a career shift. But I would always think back and remember my two aunts, Mary and Janie. They both died of colon cancer, but their last words to me were that they believed in me. Their faith in me made me believe too.
In the past few years, I have made my mission eliminating my self doubt. A big part of that has been learning to love myself and accept my flaws. I think for a while I thought I had to be perfect, but trying to be perfect is as impossible as it is exhausting. Eventually I realized this mentality was holding me back, and I just started saying “fuck it” when confronted with a challenge. Once I did that, I started doing a lot of things I never thought I could. I still have dips of doubt, but I’ve also never believed in or loved myself more than I do now. So I’m going to run with this love for me and start believing and see how far it takes me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chelseamarrin.com
- Instagram: chelsea_marrin
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-marrin-75b680a2/
Image Credits
Image One:
Actor: Sam Vartholomeos
Styling: Shelby Fox
Hair&Makeup: Crystal Carrero
Retouching: Jordan Hartley
Assistants: Kyla Rys Jeong Park
Image Two:
Model: KT Tarr
Designer: Hannah Linder
Video & Edit: Cole Terra
Assistant: Kyla Rys
Creative Director: Austin Oliver
Hair & Makeup: Brittney Smith
Image Three:
Subject: Nas Ferman
Shop: The Tingle Studio
Hair&Makeup: Lana Matros
Retouching: Olga Baklan
Video: Cole Terra
Assist: Ethan Terra
Image Four:
Model: Lily Lightbourn
Makeup: Anneliese Tieck
Retoucher: Olga Baklan
Image Five:
Actress: Tilly Evans-Krueger
Styling: Anna Nosworthy
Hair&Makeup: Crystal Carrero
Assistant: Damora Regala
Retouching: Olga Baklan
Image Six:
Model: Adem Aluka
Styling: Madeline Telford
Hair&Makeup: Heather Busulovich
Assistant: CJ Jarmuth
Image Seven:
Model: Madhulika Sharma
Styling: Carly Villane
Hair&Makeup: Anneliese Tieck
Retouching: Jordan Hartley
Assistant/Digital Tech: Gloria Kilbourne
Image Eight:
Model: Madison Moehling
Styling&Creative Direction: Carly Villane
Hair&Makeup: Anneliese Tieck
Video: Joanne Lee
Retouching: Jordan Hartley