We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Hayder. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.
Katie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
All my life, art has been my biggest driving force, from painting the biggest canvases to writing the smallest letters. Throughout my journey of discovering myself (which isn’t even close to being done) I have loved art and creativity because it has gotten me through such hard times. My sophomore and junior years were not the brightest points in my life, in fact, some of the hardest times for me mentally. I found myself struggling to have the willpower to even pick up a book to read, let alone lift a pencil to a piece of paper. So while I couldn’t create anything myself, I leaned heavily on the photography and poetry of others. Poetry is something I’ve always loved, so much emotion in such a short time and it was exactly what I was looking for, something to make me feel. Poetry about romance and death, journeys, and some as simple as feeling the sun on your skin. Any poem would do. Anything to make me experience feelings because feeling something small is better than feeling nothing at all. When I see any photography that yanks on the heartstrings, I read the poetry behind it. The meaning I see behind the lens of a camera. The poetry of life. That’s why I create what I do, I want people to experience the poems that are written throughout our lives, big and small. To see that it’s so much deeper than an image on a screen. For them to know that their lives are crazy and wonderful. Photography poetry is my mission because I want people to feel the photos when they look. I create so that maybe someday, somewhere, someone who felt the way I did, will see my photos and know what it’s like the feel.
Katie, 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?
Hi! I’m an art-loving Montana girl that grew up in the tiny town of Three Forks. I love a little bit of everything, if I’m being honest, and if I don’t end up snapping a picture or drawing it, I usually end up buying it! My life has been centered around art ever since I was a child, my grandmother painted beautiful landscapes and my mother has drawing books filled to the brim. You could say the apple didn’t fall from the tree! I think their humor got passed down too, because I’d like to think I’m pretty funny as well. My dad taught me how to be fiesty, to do what I love and not let anyone tell me any different, that’s why I took a differnt route in my schooling. I started my journey of being a photographer in high school. I took one photo class in 8th grade and that’s when I knew I wanted to find something for me to flourish in. At the time I didn’t know it would be photography, but I knew that I didn’t want to be trapped in a meaningless job for the rest of my life. I’d seen it firsthand on how it can take a toll on a person when they’re not working in something they love so I told myself I wouldn’t let that happen to me. I searched and searched but nothing really felt right, nothing fit the idea I had in my brain that would allow me to travel and create freely but also make the money I needed to live. It wasn’t until my senior year when my mom told me about one of her friends that just graduated college from a photo school, Rocky Mountain School of Photography, and I knew I had finally found the missing piece. After an amazing 8 months crammed with photos, video, and business at RMSP I learned what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I provide photography of all kinds, but for now, it’s mostly sneior portraits and a documentary approach to my sessions. I love this style of photography because my clients just get to go about life as they normally would and instead of taking them out of the moment with awkward instructions, I just let them do them while I catch the emotions and poetry as they fly by. I let the moment play out infront of me instead of trying to porce it. The authenticity of the moment is what I look for and it’s what I love to capture. I read the poetry of their everyday lives and document it, so they too can see the wonderful life they live. Like writing a love poem to life. That being said, I’m most proud of the “documentary” work that I’ve done. I photographed my great grandparent’s 72nd anniversary when all of my family got together for the first time in a very long time. My great gradmother was the one of the kindest woman I knew, she loved to cook and loved every person who happened to grace her path. Life had taken it’s toll as it always does, she was diagnosed with dementia and ended up forgetting who we were, but she knew we were her family and she never forgot how to love us all. It was so amazing to see that unconditional love that radiated through the whole house. It’s my favorite shoot to date, not just because I thought the images looked good but because I ended up taking the last photos of my great grandmother before she passed away. That’s apart of the job sometimes as it is with everything, but I feel so incredibly honored to have been the one to imortalized her love in every single image. This life is ours and I want to be their to document it in a way that shows us how incredibly unique each person is, everyone has a different poem, so let me write yours.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My summer going into my junior year, I decided to take a leap and went on a month-long backpacking trip to Yellowstone with Montana Wilderness School. I was incredibly nervous and I did not prepare for the trip like I should have! I found myself becoming fast friends with the only other girl on the trip and I’m so glad I did because I probably would not have made it through without her by my side. We had no service and the only contact we had was from a letter your family could write to you every week when we got a new supply drop. I lived a month with only the belonging I could fit on my back and food that didn’t taste all that great. It was grueling hikes up very long trails, but the amazing view was worth it. Beautiful mountains and everything was so green! My favorite part was the emerald and turquoise green of the Yellowstone River, which I did accidentally take a lil dip in! I get incredibly homesick a little too easily and I didn’t find that out till I went on this trip. No contact with anybody except the people hiking beside me. I missed my family terribly and just the comforts of home. I also missed my cats much more than I’d like to admit. In the beginning, I didn’t know if I could make it any farther but as I learned and stepped out of my comfort zone, I realized I could. I found the things that kept me going, and I held on to them and didn’t let go. My friend Allie being with me every step of the way, finding wild huckleberries, sneaking sips of the coffee creamer we weren’t allowed to have and finally being able to take a nice shower when I got home. I learned to adapt to my surroundings and used those things to fuel me forward. I taught myself to be in the moment and appreciate it for what it is instead of being afraid. Even though half the time my back was screaming in pain, I still loved every second of it! Although this isn’t a story directly pertaining to my photography journey, it was still a big part of shaping me into who I am today and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
To be honest, I think NFTs are silly. I get the hype of it and I know a lot of people made money off of them but it just seems a little ridiculous. I think I’d understand it more if they had more of an artistic value to them like someone took time to curate each individual one by hand. I honestly don’t know much about them so there might be some like that but they’re probably not as popular as the others. I just feel like NFTs don’t have a life other than existing digitally on someone’s phone. Photography is something that I love and spend time creating something new for each person I photograph. They pay money to have these images as they would with NFT but I believe any photographic images hold more value than any NFT ever could. They capture the moment and immortalize it forever to be passed on and shared. You can also frame the images for your home and I don’t think anyone wants an NFT of an ape hanging in their living room haha. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katiesophiaphoto.com
- Instagram: @katiesophiaphoto
- Facebook: @katiesophiaphoto
- Email: katie@katiesophiaphoto.com :)