Conversations with December Hansen

Today, we’d like to introduce you to December Hansen.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It has been quite a journey to 2024. I moved to Tennessee from Anchorage, Alaska, in January of 2013. I started working for a photography studio doing school and sports portraits. By 2018, I had gone freelance, publishing my magazines and selling tee shirts with my photos. Trying to make ‘weird’ work.

It didn’t, and I landed a corporate marketing job in 2020. That also didn’t work, and in 2021, I opened a Lingerie store. It was a crazy move but crazy fun, too. I didn’t completely abandon art then though, and in 2021, I directed several short films and music videos while running my store. In 2023, I had my son, and in January of 2024, I closed my store and am slowly easing back into writing, photo, and video projects.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
I always feel like an outsider, even in the art community. Especially when I was trying to make a living doing it; I was producing so much work but couldn’t make money or land the gigs I wanted. 2016-2019 I thought that if I pushed hard enough, maybe the right person would see my work on social media, which would change everything.

Now, I don’t care about that. COVID-19 years really killed that for me. I just want to make my art and enjoy my life without feeling like its ultimate purpose is to live on social media. Motherhood pushed me into a more analog life. It’s made my mind clearer, and in the stolen moments in my day-to-day with an almost one-year-old, I’m finding the brain space to create again.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a conceptual photographer, writer, and director.

Bridging somewhere between editorial and dark. I live in a rural area of west Tennessee, so the running joke is that I’m a “Halloween” photographer, but there is so much more to it than that. I love combining media to tell the story of whatever I’m feeling. Doing short films is a really fun way to stretch the imagery further.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
Sometimes, ideas, plans, dreams, and goals seem impossibly large. Just start bite-sized. It’s easy to hold off doing something if you don’t have the means.

Scaling down small is the best first step. Also, while social media is a tool, it is not the end-all of creation. There is a whole real world out there that needs bodies, art, and living, breathing things.

Contact Info:

• Website: drcpofficial.com