We were lucky to catch up with Lee Behrend recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

After covid, I think the world had a reality check on what quality of life meant. I used to want my legacy to be something close to a celebrity status. I wanted people to remember who I was. I wanted to mean something in a selfish way. Now, the only thing I want to do is help support women and members of the lgbtqia+ in any way I can. My hope is that with photography I can help women of all walks of life get the help or support they need. I’m not sure what that looks like yet but I’m excited to get there.

Lee, 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?

I grew up in the Round Rock to Austin area of Texas with many trips to the Kerrville area. It was the perfect blend of country and city. I’m thankful I got to experience everything from the punk/skate scene to the cow fields growing up and that my younger self appreciated it back then. I was only child for most of my life and lived on my own since I was 16.

I think the ability to be such an independent person lead me to picking up a camera. Growing up my dad was a professional BMX rider and always had a camera on him to take photos with his friends. My mom had endless giant scrapbooks of her as a teenager and gave me my first film camera to run around with. I was obsessed with the idea of how cameras stopped time.

Eventually I had a girl in high school that I looked up to. She did wedding photography and I thought about how f*cking cool that must be! I mean, getting paid to photograph people while partying? Absolute dream. I began doing wedding photography and got in to styled shoots for magazines and honestly never looked back. The ability to connect with strangers, grow with them, and be there on one of the most special days of their life is an honor not most people don’t experience.

Honestly what I’m most proud of with my business is just the connection. Honestly, one of my most worked with vendors in the wedding industry is now someone who I call my “mom” I go to that woman for everything and she’s going be in my life for forever now (whether she likes it or not. Ha!) I meet all walks of life in this business and I want to continue to grow my circle of people. I want to tell the story of my clients. I want everyone to feel their most beautiful and their most comfortable in my presence. Eventually my goal is to focus on using photography to help all women and LGBTQIA+ persons.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Absolutely hearing how excited the client is after delivering photos. The high I get after a simple text, email, or DM is unmatched. My favorite is when the client just feels so beautiful or special that they can’t believe its even them in the photo. That is how I know I’ve done my job successfully.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As a POC woman and a member of the lgbtq, I grew up never seeing a lot of photos of people that looked like me. I think for a long time there was only beautiful model-type people portrayed in the wedding industry. Magazines never showed anything that wasn’t the “typical beauty standard.” This is still very prevalent now. I dare some of you to pick up your typical fashion magazine, your typical wedding magazine. its 2022. This needs to change.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leebehrend.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/leebehrend
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/leebehrendphotography

Image Credits
Lee Behrend Photography I have the rights and permission for all of the photos presented.