We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Manzani. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.

Laura , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I’ve always valued education and “formal” education was important in my family growing up. My dad had a masters degree and my mom got her MFA while I was in college so for a while we were in school together, which was cool. Mid-way through my undergraduate program I had enough units to either pursue photography or to continue in a more “responsible” path, political science/pre-law and then go to law school. I chose the latter route thinking that trying to be an artist in LA was not a wise path. I was a young mom and was concerned about getting work and being able to support my daughter on my own. I didn’t pursue my passion and art wholly until later in life.
Now as a parent, my youngest two are high school student athletes, I find myself encouraging them to pursue their passions, not necessarily following a traditional path ( HS>College).
The current education system would prepare students for life more by helping them to explore what makes them “want to get up in the morning”. When I look back on my college years, there is actually very little that I remember or use in my life. I learned much more by working in restaurants, changing careers many times and running my own business.

While school was not “hard” for me and I enjoyed being a student – I am naturally inquisitive, curious and LOVE learning – it IS a challenge for a lot of people. The traditional model can be restrictive and even an environment where non-traditional learners don’t excel and are made to feel like failures or lazy.
My boys didn’t love school and it was a struggle to keep them motivated in a traditional setting. Once we figured out a hybrid path that accommodated their interests and passions, they’ve been much more “successful”. For example, my older HS son gets up on his own and works out before 6am, does his schoolwork on his own timing, attends one class on campus, does another workout on his own, then does more schoolwork, attends a team practice and will usually finish the day with yoga and recovery. He was not “successful” within the traditional system and even felt labeled as “lazy” or “irresponsible” but in actuality he was so focused on his goals as an athlete and trying to fit his passion within a more rigid framework of the traditional school setting. It wasn’t that he was unmotivated – in fact he was hyper motivated on goals that were outside of the system.

I also think that there is an outdated approach to success and higher education. College costs way too much and very, very rarely are any of these graduates working in a field related to their degree, or in a field they feel passionate about and in a job that actually makes enough money to pay back their loans.
I think the education system would better serve students by helping to parse out HOW they learn, WHAT makes them excited and willing to work harder, and what success looks like to them. I only realized later in life that my idea of success really comes from having the flexibility to be present in my kids’ lives, to enjoy the work that I do, to learn new skills and challenge myself and make enough money to support myself and my kids.

Of course I believe that we need education, but the approach to it needs to change to truly support people in pursuing a fulfilled life. Some careers require a specific educational path, but the majority don’t. We need to identify what drives us as humans, and foster environments that support that.

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?

Well, I grew up in a home with an artist and an academic so there has always been a tug-of-war between my heart and brain – the artist and the intellectual. I am naturally inquisitive, curious and love learning and people watching. I really identified with the intellectual aspect of myself for the majority of my life but always really wanted to be the artist. There was something cool about being an artist and I didn’t feel that way about myself – I never felt cool. Haha

When I was a kid, growing up in Southern California, some of my favorite memories are of walking on the beach and collecting seashells. I would walk for hours, my eyes glued to the sand for “THE” treasure.
I feel like that as an artist. As a photographer, I am always observing the world around me – but really I am searching for those magical moments that appear if you’re looking. I have always been an observer. To me, this is what photography is – capturing those moments that are mostly unnoticed but when you catch it and memorialize it … it’s magic.

I got my first real camera as a gift from my parents, when I was about 15, back when we used BW film and darkrooms. It was a used Canon AE-1 from a pawn shop. To this day, that was the most meaningful gift I ever received.
I taught myself how to use that camera reading books, trial and error, and taking photos of everything and everyone but it wasn’t until I was in college that I actually took classes. I spent hours in the darkroom creating and learning. Later, I started to build my own darkroom and collecting darkroom equipment and then I taught a HS level class for a couple of years at a small school. We would do photography field trips down to Melrose Ave, Venice Beach and other iconic LA landmarks where the people watching was great. Like I said earlier, my true love has always been people and Black and White images.

Early on in my photography journey as I was also working in a bookstore, I was able to have access to amazing books, magazines and art journals which helped me kind of discover my style. I was always attracted to the work of Henri Cartier Bresson, Man Ray, Dorothea Lange, Sally Mann and Robert Doisneau. I realized early on that my style was organic, moody, and authentic. I have always been drawn to images that evoke emotion or feel like you’re sneaking a peek at a quiet, private, human moment.

A common theme throughout the years has been children. When I started college I had already had my daughter and so I had my muse. Over time I realized that I enjoyed photographing kids because they were authentic and so expressive with emotions. As an artist, I appreciate authentic moments and emotions.

As my children grew and became more involved with competitive sports that had us traveling a lot, I decided to learn sports photography. It is a particularly challenging field with usually poor lighting and lots of action – but I love the spontaneity and candid moments. While I love the feeling of capturing the excitement, action and getting the “slam dunk”, literally and figuratively, I still think I am most proud of my “sportraits.” – catching the emotions and moments between the action.

At this point in my career, I work full time as a photographer and digital media artist. I make images of people from babies to our elders and everyone in between. I particularly love capturing intimate moments in a style similar to street or documentary style photography. While I do a lot of sports work, my other main types of photography are children, boudoir, portraits, and people. I make and use color images, but my favorites are BW. I prefer to work in smaller, unscripted, unposed events but have also photographed large events.

Words I would use to describe my style: authentic, moody, raw, personal, intimate, human.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I have always done photography on the side – mostly for friends, family and then later by word of mouth for other people.

Like many creatives, I struggled to feel like a “real” artist and not a “faux-tographer”. Imposter syndrome is a real thing and a huge hindrance if you listen to that mean voice in your head.
I was afraid to take the jump to starting a business and going full time even though it had long been my dream and passion. There has always been a fear of not being able to support the needs of my family as the sole provider, so I never really took the plunge. I was slowly building up my gear, my experience, my portfolio, my online presence, and my confidence alongside my “real” job that was paying my bills.

It wasn’t until the pandemic hit that I actually made a concerted effort to build a business. I did the back office legal stuff, started promoting myself more, saying yes more to different types of job opportunities and most importantly… calling myself and identifying as A PHOTOGRAPHER. AN ARTIST.
In 2020 I created my company twenty20image. The name is kind of a play on words, using vision and the year as a reminder and exhortation to look forward with perfect vision.

That same year we moved from California to Colorado. I had been wanting to leave CA for a while and check out other places but never really had the time or courage to do it, I know that CV19 was an incredibly difficult time and has had some long lasting implications, but for me and my family it was also the catalyst to a new era in our lives and my business,

During the early part of the pandemic, there was not a lot of opportunity to work with people in person and in some ways the worst timing to start a business but through school and sports I started to make connections in CO.
In the beginning of starting my business, I photographed my kids and their friends. Social media has been helpful in sharing content and developing some online brand awareness. I worked for free at some events to build different aspects of my portfolio and grow awareness of my brand here in CO. Later I met and was hired by a company that is involved in sports, recruiting, consulting and media to work some events for the them. Now we are partnered in the sport event space and I have grown my business to include graphic design and social media management. Funnily, I manage several other business brands and accounts and create content on a daily basis for them and I don’t even post much on my own socials. I definitely am working on that in 2024 for my own business.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I love this question!

I think that so much of the journey of a creative is the identity. When I was managing restaurants or businesses, I had no hesitation saying I was a manager. It was what I did and even when things didn’t go according to plans, forecasts or goals we had set, I was still a manager. My identity was not tied up in the success. Whereas, as a creative I have struggled to call myself or identify as an artist/photographer/creative until a certain level of success has been achieved.

For myself, growing up with an artist mom who had the creative and academic pedigree ( she has an MFA) I didn’t consider myself as a creative. As I mentioned earlier, I always struggled with the tug-of -war between the intellectual and the artist. I knew I loved making things and creating – I was a huge collage maker in my teens – but I didn’t consider myself a creative. I had always been recognized for my intellectual success and so I identified as that. It felt uncomfortable to call myself an artist or creator even when I was actually creating. I also think that growing up in LA, where so many people come to make it in film or TV, there was a part of me that didn’t accept the process as being part of the identity. Meaning…unless you are making a living solely from the art/craft you can’t call yourself an artist or creator. Now I look back at that and think it is so foolish – the process of creating IS part of being a creative. You can call yourself and you are a creative if you are creating.

The second part of this is : progress over perfection. You don’t need to wait for something to be perfect or 100% to do it. I think that waiting for everything to be just right is a waste of time. Take steps, make mistakes, slow down, start over and over and over.

Which leads me to the last thought…creative block is real. Creating is an emotional and sometimes exhausting process. You put yourself into the process and it can feel like the result is a direct reflection of you – of you who are at your very core. When you put yourself out there it is a vulnerable place to be and it is uncomfortable. I think that there is also a pressure to top the last creation – like you need to keep producing something even better and there is fear attached to that expectation. Creating feels very personal and offering your work to others is scary.

Some days you feel like a badass, you feel invigorated and inspired and other days you need to withdraw, hibernate and cultivate the new creation.

Contact Info:

• Website: laurasmanzani.shootproof.com
• Instagram: @twenty20image , @laurasmanzani
• Facebook: Laura S Manzani Photography
• Twitter: @twenty20image

Image Credits
NA – @twenty20image and @laurasmanzani