We were lucky to catch up with Emily Wysocki recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?

I think this is such an important question for me. I have always been drawn to working for myself but it took until recently to actually believe that I could. I went to Grand Valley for photography in 2010 and would say I started to dabble with the idea of photographing for a living at that time. I would take on little gigs for weddings, couples shoots, and families, but never had the confidence back then to actually say the words “I am a photographer” when someone asked what I did for a living. I was paid to be a server and bartender so that is all I could muster up the courage to tell someone. If I said otherwise, I would have to talk about my photos and what do I have to show for it?! Very little (or so I thought). I wasn’t convinced that my work was strong enough to be considered “a business owner” and for years immobilized myself in my doubt. I lay dormant due to fear. Fear of judgment, choosing the wrong niche, not knowing enough, not understanding money or the business side of things.

It’s not necessarily the business that I wish I started sooner, but the belief in myself that I was able to start a business. To trust the process of figuring it out as I went and to let go of the debilitating uncertainty and fear of failure. I am learning not to be hard on myself for this delay. Each step has taught me what I like and don’t like. I am more sure of who I am and what I want to do with my photographic career because of the time spent playing in all the different mediums. I now have a stronger body of work and all of the practice has helped grow my confidence and images as a whole. I think one of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to face has been my limiting money beliefs. I grew up thinking, “money is the root of all evil”, “love is more important than money”, “I don’t need money to be happy” kind of mentality. Once I did some extreme renovation on that thought process everything got easier. I have come to the understanding that if I want to run a successful business I have to make money my friend, love it, cherish it, appreciate all that it affords me and that it only helps me. I have to practice this daily. I literally have reminders on my phone that chime in every hour telling me that my creations are capable of making me money.

So if I could go back, I would have learned this lesson in money mentality and confidence sooner. I would have gotten my head out of the energetic gutter, shut myself off to the imaginary judgements, and went full out, pushing past the doubts and fears because the success is on the other side of that fear

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 was that person in high school who was yelled at for taking too many photos. I could not stop. Something about capturing a moment that will forever be gone other than a faded memory was substantial to me. Having an image to help explain an experience still leaves me in euphoria if I really let myself contemplate on it. That is what I love to do to this day, engage photographically in an experience and help others to do the same by seeing it.

I went to Grand Valley State University and graduated with a BA in photography in 2016. I was obsessive about learning every single medium, seeing the benefit of each. I would spend 9 hours in the darkroom watching magic appear before my eyes without realizing I hadn’t eaten. I became a teachers assistant to support in the darkroom. I believe this helped me to see from multiple perspectives and become passionate about all expressions of photography. I’m inspired by what inspires others, what brings about emotion through an image. When I am photographing creatives, I want to document the dedication and passion that I see, feel, and hear them talk about. My style is to capture each nuance that exemplifies exactly who they are and why they do what they do. While photographing couples I am interested in what makes them laugh with each other, how they hold hands and what makes their relationship succeed as it does. In my documentary series I am curious of the dichotomies that come into play in the frame and what story is asking to be told here. When photographing kids, I am capturing the little things that make them uniquely them at that age. In every single project my goal is to evoke a feeling, to output this into tangible, understandable photographs that fully encapsulate their story, idea, beauty or creation.

In a way, I am a one size fits all because I am intent on creating through my clients vision and what they are inspired by. As every project is different, I love to see what they envision for the end product. I get extremely inspired by collaborating with my clients before the shoot and have them send me imaginative ideas, photographs. and anything they think may add to reach the goal images for the photoshoot. This is a pivotal aspect of my work because of how important I believe it is tell their individual story and connect to their conceptualization.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The overarching mission driving my creative journey is to activate contemplation in humanity. To lift the veil by bringing into the light a feeling whatever that feeling may be. To encourage the sensation of being moved. To disrupt traditional and habitual thoughts. While looking deeper into an image, help a person to realize they are looking deeper into themselves, who they are and see their own inner narrative.

This may seem extreme when thinking of something like a family photoshoot and still, it is my goal. When these images are received, a feeling will emerge, an impression will be made. Snapshots of a moment forever gone, an age that will never reoccur. This can conjure some wild awareness and appreciation for a moment. Not only in the final result but also in the process of the photo session. My goal is to make every part of the venture rewarding and exciting.
For a food photoshoot session I am recording a plating that a chef specifically designed which probably took years and years of training and inspiration to conjure that idea into an edible master piece. I am capturing all that has led to this specific moment and putting it on a pedestal for all to see and contemplate.

With my independent projects I enjoy doing this through formulating contradiction, injustice and the peculiarities of reality. Framing unusual beauty that can evoke curiosity and interrogation of the norm. Same with travel and nature. I am inviting the viewer to look deeper and get a different sense of place that may have otherwise been looked over.

I want my photographs to light you up, to transmute you, to awaken you even if in the most minute way.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to evoke emotion and an experience by simply framing something I see and setting it out into the world. That is magic.

To simply freeze a moment and allow a viewer to engage with it however they’d like and feel whatever they’d like to feel. If it’s warmth, happiness, excitement, comfort or pride for a project we do together. If while looking at my documentary series irritation is felt, discomfort, curiosity or awe seems to surface, that’s where I get illuminated. I want this to start a dialog, if only an inner one. To chronicle a point and place in time that will eventually and inevitably fade, yet for a moment created significance, importance and an experience of any sort. This is most rewarding for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: emwyso.com or https://www.emwyso.com
• Instagram: @emwyso

Image Credits
Emily Wysocki