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

Isabel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I had begun taking photography classes in high school, but spent more time goofing around with certain projects than taking it seriously. I’m guess in a way I didn’t feel connected to the prompts that were being presented to me. It wasn’t until I was 16 that I was first introduced to concert photography and as a teen with a love for both concerts and photography, I knew that’s where I belonged. My uncle had tried to help me photograph a Mayday Parade show, but I was turned down because I didn’t have a portfolio. At that time, I really didn’t even know what that meant or what the first steps were that I needed to take. A few years later, I was in a club at my university that organized a Spring Concert featuring All Time Low, being the only photographer in the group, I was tasked at covering the show. Ever since then, I’ve been the happiest in photo pits and working alongside other creatives. If it wasn’t for that specific club and event, I truly don’t think I would’ve had the chance to start my career then.

Isabel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Isabel Dowell and I am a music photographer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I work with concert, film, and portrait photography of live shows, as well as interviewing and speaking with the artists who take the stage. Being able to photograph concerts on film, as well as taking the time to interview artists, are some things that set me apart from others. It’s a really cool experience and does take the extra time to perfect, but I’ve had a lot of fun with it so far. These interviews are one of the things I’m most proud of in my career. It took me a long, long time to come out of my comfort zone to do them, but after conducting many artist interviews over Zoom during COVID, I finally took the leap this summer and have done quite a few in-person interviews.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

A particular goal I have is to be able to accompany an artist on tour. I absolutely love every concert I photograph, but also see every one as another opportunity to perfect my talents and as another way to show others what I can do. I’ve always wanted to go on tour and almost had the opportunity right before COVID hit, but unfortunately, we know what happened next. Even if it’s just for a week, it’s a goal I’m constantly striving for.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I really had to, and still continue to, unlearn the practice of comparing my work to others. Social media plays a huge role in this and pretty recently I made the move to hide likes on my Instagram. It may seem silly from on outside perspective but it really put a lot of pressure on me to truly enjoy my own work as I was constantly worried about how people who view my photos based on the number of likes it gathered. With social media, it is really a never ending battle and I just have to remind myself that of course everyone is only showing the best of the best, and they probably have an entire archive of awful photos that will never see the light of day – just as I do!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.isabelelise.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabelelisephoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isabelelisephoto

Image Credits
Bleachers, Kehlani, Dominic Fike, The Linda Lindas, Blu De Tiger, Jake Wesley Rogers, Sizzy Rocket Photo by Isabel Dowell Portrait of Isabel Dowell by Savanna Klear Photographing at Elevation by Benjamin Howell Photography