We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Burroughs a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Before I decided to pursue my photography business, I started getting more heavily into the live music scene. Specifically a lot of female led pop punk, folk punk, and rock bands. I discovered Charlotte Sands when she was just starting out, and developed an online friendship with her. She gave me advice, and was honest about how hard you have to work. Then when her next show rolled around her and Hannah got me a media pass. Three years into this, I am a firm believer that it doesn’t matter how smart or wealthy you are, it’s about sinking your teeth into the passions you have and not letting go. Anyone can have the desire to do something artistic, but it’s another thing to have the drive.

Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was in college during the pandemic and due to the stress of it all I dropped out. While I was pursuing a degree to became a wildlife photographer. Between that and always wanting to take pictures of nature, my friends, and family, I knew whatever I was meant to do centered around a camera. I want to capture people in genuine moments.

I got into the live music industry because I got inspired by a lot of small local artists that I was seeing after the pandemic had ended. Seeing so many people pursue their art after it getting put on pause by a once in a lifetime event helped me believe I could do it too.

It’s been three years since I started my professional photography journey, and doing it has been the most fulfilling experience of my life. I’ve gotten to cover a lot of pop punk, rock, and folk rock artists as a result. My favorite show was at MGM Music Hall for Charlotte Sands. I saw her live at Sad Summer Fest and became an internet friend of hers thanks to my silly live music memes. She truly does the most to support the people who support her. So, I asked her if there was any chance of me getting a media pass for her show via instagram DM, expecting her to not even see it, and she messaged me back within hours. To this day, nothing compares to the rush of nerves I felt when I took a glance at the HUGE crowd behind the photo pit.

If you take a glance at my art you may notice that I don’t stick to specific styles of editing, and that I do all kinds of camera work. I’ve done live music, weddings, promotional videos for musicians, portraits, and even automotive shoots. My favorite part of what I do is that I allow myself to try anything. I have yet to say no to any intimidating or wacky ideas that have been sent my way, because I flourish best under pressure. I love new ideas and challenges. It’s also the best way to prepare myself for on tour photography.

The most important thing to me is that my photo art brings me fulfillment. Whenever I get stuck in a rut I have exceptionally creative and talented friends to help guide me. My friends Drew and Emma are great creative directors and models. Then there’s Evie and Ally, who also have a love for photography. I find that my favorite shoots come from our collaborations.

In my artwork I always want to showcase the queer community. Especially in these troubling times. I worry about us losing our voices in the industry. But rather than let the fear control me, I will utilize my creative freedom to remind everyone that we are here, and proud to be.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My audience, similar to my business, is currently small. But over time it has still grown a ton, and I went from being lucky to be paid for gigs, to paying my bigger bills with them. It’s all about sticking with it. All it takes is one viral post, or an influencer who admires your creativity to bring you up in the industry. You have to have to be willing to get rejected many, many times by the wrong people, to fall into the right path. Take chances, message every artist (or their management) for every opportunity you want. Just because they say no now, doesn’t mean you can’t improve your work and get a yes later.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being a photographer with a chronic illness is difficult. But not pursuing something I love feels so wrong to me, that I refuse to take another path. There will be times where I have to allow myself to rest and miss a cool show. There will also be times where I have to push myself to get to one, even when I am in a lot of physical pain because of my illness. I live on Cape Cod so I have to drive out for my Boston gigs, so between the two hour drive and working in a photo pit, my body can get quite tired. But I leave the venues on Cloud 9, excitedly planning my next gig.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: hannybphotography
• Other: Email: hannybphotography@gmail.com

Image Credits

1 Andrew Sexton
2 Lily Rapoza
3Drew Sandoval & Emma Knecht
4 Charlotte Sands
5 Model/Editor Emma Knecht
6 Zack Whitley
7 Shaez DeSousa