We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Erwin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I am fully self taught for the most part. I like to learn by trial and error, as I’m a very hands on learner. When I first started photographing people, I modeled for myself. I would use my trash can and a hair straightener as a tripod and put on a 20 second timer and run back and forth. Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have. Watching other photographers and artists helped shape the way I work a lot. If I could go back, I think I would dive a little bit harder into learning the ins and outs of running a business. I’m good at the art side, not as good at the business side. I’m honestly my biggest obstacle in my way. Confidence is a hard thing to hold onto in this industry that’s already so saturated with successful creatives. It’s so so hard to not compare your journey to someone else’s. Everyone’s style is different and it’s important to remember that no one is the best at anything, everyone is always learning and looking to others for inspiration.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started doing photography as a hobby around 2016. I was gifted my camera in a pretty dark time and started using my days off work to walk around my yard and neighborhood and take photos of birds and nature. In the last few years I started working on other creative outlets like digital art and clothing design and I absolutely love being able to “pick my poison” when it comes to being creative. And I love the community I’ve become a part of as a vendor doing markets and things like that. There’s a certain mood to all of my work, photography and other endeavors alike. I have always been alternative and had a love for weird/spooky/creepy things, so I think a lot of my work reflects that. I probably could have been more “successful” if I had gone the more mainstream route, but one of the things I’m most proud of about myself is that I stayed as true to myself as I possibly could. I know my style, my strengths, my weaknesses. I don’t do what I know I don’t love because I’m not going to give it my all and I won’t be as good at it.

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 think a lot of people have a misconception about art as a whole, but especially as a career. Being a creative is HARD. It’s fun and rewarding, but it can take a huge toll on you as well. It’s more than just snapping a photo or painting a picture or sewing a patch on a shirt. It’s a lot of marketing yourself and rejection, and it’s a hit to your ego when no one likes something you love and poured potentially hours and hours of your time into. It’s becoming harder and harder to be a creative in the world given the current economy. I have never been a full time creative, it just wasn’t feasible for me. But that has always been my goal. I just wish that people could see all of the behind the scenes and ugly things that come with it. “Starving Artist’ is a stereotype for a reason, and it sucks sometimes when people call your passion a hobby or say things like ” well that’s not a real job.”

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Word of mouth in my case. I have an absolutely wonderful group of friends and people in my community that support me anytime they can. I think in the case of creatives, a good community is just as important as good quality products.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: lemphotog

Image Credits

Maeve
Chance Adams (All I Hear Is Birds)
Lucas (All I Hear Is Birds)
Lee (tun)