We recently connected with Sara Cronin and have shared our conversation below.

Sara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I bought my first camera while I was in college for a B&W film photography class that was required for me to take. I had just switched my major and my school, and was completely lost about what I wanted to do with my life. In that B&W class, we worked in a darkroom, developed all of our own film, and made all of our prints by hand in the darkroom. My professor at the time, who is now my biggest role model and inspiration, saw and recogonized that I had an eye for photography, and really encouraged me to dive into it headfirst even though I had never thought that I could be a photographer. I learned to appreciate and love the art and beauty of photography through that class and through my professor’s close guidance, and I never turned back! The more I took photos, the more I fell in love with the process and the more my passion grew!

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?

My name is Sara Cronin, and I am a portrait and landscape film photographer. Turning my own experiences and memories into art is the most beautiful and rewarding process for me as a photographer. I’ve always loved savoring the moments and people around me, and am a very sentimental person. Photography gave me a way to not only creatively express myself, but also to cherish each moment. Photos are truly special, and being a photographer is so much fun! I’ve met so many incredible people through photography, and a world of community, learning, and beauty has truly opened up for me through this passion. I’m so grateful to be a photographer and am always excited for each opportunity.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn to stop expecting things to happen when I wanted them to. I had to learn how to have patience. Starting out as a film photographer especially, I very, very quickly learned that patience and putting trust in yourself is everything. Decisions that you make as a film photographer are often irreversible, and you can’t see the results of what you are doing immediately. I had to fail many times to become better haha. I learned some major humbling lessons in my college’s darkroom. You have to trust that you did the right thing, you set up the shot correctly, you exposed correctly. That took me a long, long time to understand, especially as someone who used to be extremely impatient. It was a huge learning lesson! But it made me a better person, made me more confident, and when something that I never thought would happen (me being a photographer???) became second nature, became something I truly loved, I became so proud of myself for not giving up!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Sure! When I finally (Finally!!) got down the film photography thing, I was so ready to get my portfolio built up and to truly be a real photographer. Just moments later the world shut down and Covid started. And then my only camera broke. And then I had to get surgery on my knee and couldn’t walk at all. (Bad things come in threes!!) I’m someone who never gives up. I treated those moments as challenges. I could’ve given up so many times, not just in those moments but in so many others. There were a lot of hard, hard days, but I knew how much I had worked to achieve what I wanted. I’ve always been a hard worker, and instead of working for others and achieving goals for a big company or a business, I was finally achieving my own goals and creating my own business and it felt so good to know that my time and hard work was going into something I loved, and myself. And I knew that I didn’t want to stop! The only time I’ve felt that I’ve “failed” is when I’ve doubted myself. Anything is truly possible! Being resilient and not giving up despite the challenges only proved to me how deep this drive and passion of mine is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.saracroninphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/saracroninphotography