Today we’d like to introduce you to Chuck Arlund.
Hi Chuck, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I first became interested in photography around eight years old but did not seriously consider it a form of expression until high school at age 16. I was attempting to be a realistic painter but was never satisfied with how I could draw or paint. The idea of photography being a way to make art seemed logical. After high school, I discovered photographers Herb Ritts and Robert Mapplethorpe and was drawn into a European fine art fashion style of photography.
When I graduated HS, I decided to pursue my dreams of being a rock star. Spent after several years in and out of rock bands where I also was photographing musicians and the fans/groupies, I moved to Tennessee from Kansas City and started going to college at Middle Tennessee State University at the old age of 24.
My degree four years later was in Recording Industry business. I wanted to become a A&R person for a label. That actually led to an internship at a subsidiary of Warner Bros called I/V. Records. It was there I started designing press kits and doing a little photography and graphic art. I moved back to Kansas City in 1999 and started working as a commercial photographer for the advertising department of the Kansas City Star newspaper and also becoming the lead web designer for the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
In the year 200, I was married to a girl I met in college who is also an artist and makeup artist. The rock star bug bit me again and we moved back to Nashville in 2003. I decided to open my own photography studio and started shooting a lot of weddings in Nashville. I quickly became one of the most recognized wedding photographers in Nashville during the 2000s. During this time, I was asked to start leading workshops and teach at various professional photographic trade shows and schools. In 2007, I began teaching Photography at O’More college of design.
In 2010, my wife and I decided to move to NYC but had to take a detour back to Kansas City so she could get some training at MAC cosmetics, where she had been working since 2005. We never made it to New York with the surprise addition of our third child (she is amazing). We both decided to move back to Nashville. My wife has family here in TN and my family is in Kansas City. So in 2013, I became a professor of photography at Middle Tennessee State University, where I continues to teach today.
I photograph musicians in the Nashville area with clients from country stars, Little Big town to rock icons Skid Row. I went back to school for my MFA in 2018 and graduated in July of 2020 Watkins College of art at Belmont University with an MFA in visual arts. I am hopeful to focus more on fine art and gallery representation while I continue teaching and get back to photographing the musicians I love.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been an exciting journey. I feel like I have done so much with being in bands and also all of the different jobs I have had. The 2008 housing market crash hit me hard. I had to sell my Germantown loft and that is when we moved back to KC. I am much better at being creative than doing business and that has always been a struggle. I really do not make much money at all anymore. Wedding did pretty well but that is not something I wish to get back into. I still photograph a few weddings here and there from recommendations though.
I think the struggle now is going to be navigating how to become an artist. I have the MFA, I have the work, now I need to do something with it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am known for commercial musician photography but also teaching professional photographers lighting. I love to teach. No one really taught me and the pain I went through trying to learn this stuff… I don’t want to see anyone else have to do that when it is very easy to teach.
I am very excited about the MFA. I feel I am truly an artist after 30+ years. My work is Biblically based and deals with shame, ego and finding humility. I see so much of the “look at me” culture and I don’t think it is a good thing. I think humans work better with each other than all trying to be individuals. I also feel that self-worship is becoming more important than God.
I think what sets me apart from others is I’d rather help people than make money off people. I have been bartering services with other service companies around Murfreesboro. I feel like I am getting so much from that and I love being able to give my service. But, we all need money. I’m not good at that.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think having a loving family with my wife, who has been my best friend for 21 years, is success. Three really cool kids. When you look at everything I have with my family, I feel very successful.
Pricing:
- Portrait Photo-sessions are $350
- Commercial shoots start at $300/hr
Contact Info:
- Email: chuckarlundphoto@gmail.com
- Website: www.chuckarlund.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonarlund/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AntonArlund
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/whitelize
- Other: https://www.chuckarlund.com/portrait
