Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Clare.
Hi Jenna, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been passionate about photography since I was a kid, but I never really grew up dreaming that I could be a professional photographer. My parents captured almost every second of my childhood on 35mm film, and my mom put on scrapbooking workshops with Creative Memories, so I had a camera in my hand ever since I could walk. It wasn’t until I moved to Nashville for college in 2013 that I began pursuing my own photography business. I studied Audio & Video Production at Belmont University, and photography became my side-hustle on the weekends. I started to build a social media following through my YouTube channel which helped my business flourish. I talked about books and writing online and interviewed New York Times best-selling authors such as Leigh Bardugo, Stephen Chbosky, and V.E. Schwab. In 2015, I shot my first wedding, and around that same time, I started working with the start-up non-profit Delight Ministries. I spent the better part of a decade collaborating on the Delight brand as they built their ministry from the ground up, and eventually that experience allowed me to cement my own brand as a Nashville creative. Now after almost fifteen years in business, I pride myself on being a jack of all trades. While I love photographing people and documenting weddings and proposals, I mostly enjoy trying new ideas and implementing old film techniques. I work primarily with the queer community and emphasize sliding scale pricing for minorities, and I feel lucky that after all these years, Nashville still has a place for me and my photos.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Freelance photography might be a popular side-hustle, but it’s definitely a labor of love. Business is always a rollercoaster, with slow seasons and overwhelming projects and persnickety clients, but my lowest point thus far is probably the same as anybody else’s. I quit my day-job in January of 2020 (maybe you see where this is going), and spent the first year of the pandemic working full-time freelance. By some miracle, I managed to make it through unscathed thanks to clients like Delight and a few brides who definitely broke isolation protocol to celebrate their weddings that summer. Eventually I broke down and got a “real” job again, too burnt out from worrying when I’d get paid again, but I could not shake the emotional toll of the pandemic. The rise of TikTok totally reshaped the photography industry, and as a younger Millenial who built their business on the 2010s version of Instagram, I felt unmoored in this new version of an industry I used to know so well. I had to reshape how I did business, but more than that I had to change my priorities. I had to accept that my business would not be the same as it was, that I might never get as much business as I did before the pandemic. And yet, once I accepted that, I had my biggest year to date. Sometimes you have to lose everything to find yourself.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As I said, I really am a jack of all trades. Even though my business is centered on photography, I’m the type of artist that does a little bit of everything. I self-published a multimedia poetry collection in 2019 that hit #1 on Amazon (Water Runs Red), and I have a poem featured by Andrew Mcmeels Publishing in Amanda Lovelace’s collection, the mermaid’s voice returns in this one. I already talked about my YouTube channel where I talk about books, but in the early days of my channel, I used to post original songs inspired by those books. Nowadays, I run a newsletter on Substack where I write musings about fiction, friendship, and feelings.
I was never able to pin down my niche because I am passionate about any and all kinds of art and photography. I’ve photographed weddings, proposals, musician portraits, conventions, you name it. One time I even shot a metal music video in dojo. I’m drawn to people more than anything else. That said, in recent years I’ve become known for queer proposals and queer weddings, and that’s something I’m very proud of. A lot of my clients are appreciative that I’m so forward about my queer identity and my liberal values because it can be challenging to know people’s true colors in the American South.
While I started my business doing digital photography and video work for social media, nowadays I like to experiment with film photography. I’m not known for cohesion or one specific look, rather I pride myself on capturing a variety of feelings at once. Most of my wedding galleries look messy, like a few different family members captured the day, because I tend to show up with five or six cameras and half a dozen different stocks of film. I like playing around with colors and looks and techniques because each photoshoot and event should be unique, and the only way we’re going to combat rampant AI imagery is by creating art that is wholly human.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Apps:
Notion
I’ve been a fan of Notion since before the pandemic started, so much so that I pay for the pro version. Even though the company uses too much AI (I’ve emailed their HQ to make sure I don’t have any access to AI on my account), I cannot bring myself to use anything else to organize my life. Mostly I like to use it to keep an organized database of every book I’ve ever read, but it’s great for to-do lists and journaling and business logistics.
Substack
Since I’m off Instagram and Twitter and Facebook (and basically every mainstream social media website), this is where I get my inspiration and scrolling fix. There’s such a wonderful community of readers and writers and photographers over there, and even though it has its own issues, I love getting to connect with other creatives through that interface. Even though it has a feed and an app, I mostly like it because it sends long-form writing to your email inbox.
My favorite Substack blogs to follow right now are A Reading Life by Petya K Grady, Discursions by M.L. Rio, Camp Notes by Amanda Lee Tromp, and JOCK MODE by Kenzie Kate Floyd.
Libby + Kanopy
If you’re not using the library apps, you need to get a library card right away. Libby is how I borrow library audiobooks + ebooks, and Kanopy is what I use to stream movies. It’s important to use these free resources not just because they’re free, but because they help our libraries get funding and offer their services to people who need them.
Storygraph + Letterboxd
These are my favorite media tracking apps. Storygraph is a Goodreads alternative that specializes in tracking your reading statistics with graphs and tags, and Letterboxd is the gold standard in tracking your movie statistics. I pay for a LB pro membership because I’m a Belcourt member and I’m trying to train my attention span to watch movies again. There is nothing more fun than watching a bad movie and looking up the LB reviews.
Books:
If you can’t tell, books are huge part of my creative and personal life. While I pride myself on reading a wide variety of authors and genres, a few that have influenced my work recently are Art Work by Sally Mann, On Photography by Susan Sontag, and Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jennaclarek.com
- Other: https://jennaclarek.substack.com/
