We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tam Allen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tam below.
Alright, Tam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
While I am so absolutely happy and grateful to be an artist, there are times where I can feel quite depleted from using my creative energy for my job, The thought has definitely crossed my mind that if I were working a job unrelated to my art, I’d feel more inspired for my projects. I remember many of my previous entry level jobs and how I would feel so “stuck at work” and antsy to get off the clock so that I could create. I would get so many ideas while working those jobs, and thinking about this made me realize how important it is to *take breaks* and do something completely unrelated to my work and perhaps even mundane, so that my creative brain could have a break from constantly being used. It’s absolutely true, and now when I feel stuck or depleted I take a break to do something else, and before I know it I’m so inspired again.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a full time photographer and director. I got started by photographing weddings and families, but now primarily photograph fashion brands, portraits, and editorials. I spend a lot of time planning photoshoots and creating mood boards for my projects, as much of the work prior to a shoot to bring my visions to life happens behind the scenes. My favorite type of brands to work for are those that value creativity, vivid imagery, and are often artists or fashion designers themselves. I think I am good at what I do because I am absolutely so passionate about representing a brand in a distinctive way. Fashion, jewelry, beauty– all of it is art to me and with that in mind it becomes quite prevalent in my work that I am enamored by what I am styling and photographing– I love to tell a story with my work. A brand is a story, often times it is the story of the person who created it but it can also just be a story based on an idea they want to represent. I love to dig into these stories and use my work to visually embody them.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that I get to feel so accomplished at the end of the way knowing that spent my time putting beauty out into the world.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The most important thing I’ve learned about social media is to be authentic. When I first started out I tried so hard to make everything perfect, but what’s really important is to be yourself. If you aren’t being authentic, you may be able to build a following but over time you will lose that following because they aren’t invested in your content or can’t relate to it. If you show up exactly who you are every single day, you’ll find YOUR audience which is the people who relate to you most. It’s also so important to have something to offer your following, and to think about what you’d want to see and put that out there. People are most likely to engage with content that they feel like they gained something from, learned something from, or were inspired by.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tamallen.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/moodygirlhues
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamallen/
- Other: Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@moodygirlhues