Exploring Life & Business with Tristan Duplichain of Tristan Duplichain Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tristan Duplichain.

Hi Tristan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a young child, I always loved taking disposable cameras on vacations and getting them back in the mail. I grew up doing beauty pageants and always loved seeing my before and after images when my parents would send off my images to be edited. Social media was slowly starting with MySpace and Xanga at age 11, where I loved coding my backgrounds and doing graphic design for my photos and home pages.

When I turned 15, I started my first job at a local ice cream shop. I saved for a year and bought my first camera, a canon t1i as well as my first car. Once I started driving I would go out and take photographs of myself and my best friends. I forgot to mention I was homeschooled so I took a vocational class in “digital media technology” at a local community college when I was 15 and finished my second year at 17.” When I left I had a lot of amazing knowledge in Adobe software and even had certifications coming out of the class which led me to test out of college courses and shorten my time in college. I was graduated from Antonelli community college a month before my 19th birthday.

Going into college, I loved music photography and that’s where I originally wanted to focus my work. Going on warped tour, following bands, however, it didn’t go as planned. I started to love fashion photography and began doing editorial work for local magazines in my area. It expanded and I’ve had photos in several magazines including one in New York. Fast forwarding to 2021, my life is even more different today. After the birth of my son, I now shoot weddings and family portraits as I can relate to these clients better than I could when I was a young teenager.

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?
It hasn’t always been the smoothest. Being young my age constantly played an issue in booking clients. People felt I wasn’t mature enough to handle bigger jobs when I was fully capable and had the passion and focus. Being a tattooed female in the south has also played a role when booking weddings as I’m not your typical bright and airy portrait photographer. I enjoy moody work and raw real images. People would also look at me as being young and expecting free images for “portfolio work” and I started to get taken advantage of to the point I had to put my foot down.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Tristan Duplichain Photography?
Currently, I specialize in editorial fashion portraiture, commercial, band promos, weddings and family work. My plan for the future is to expand and offer boudoir and bohemian studio styled sessions. My plan is to start my YouTube channel back and show others how to start a business from the ground up with no business experience. Hopefully, I will travel in the next few years and work with more magazines as that has been my passion for years. I’m very proud of my style and how far I’ve adapted over my almost 14 years in photography. My work and style has changed from bright and airy, to moody and dark, I’ve currently gone for a golden bohemian vibe with my images that stands out living in the south. I’ve come very far and learned a lot while meeting some amazing people in my journey. My friend and fellow business owner Rachel Williams (Rachel-b-styling) has really advanced my work by styling clients for me as well as my friend Jennifer Harper who has helped me through running my social media starting my podcast (steal like an artist with Tristan Duplichain) and pushing me to keep doing what I’m doing. I want to thank my teacher Trey Gore for encouraging me to focus on my dreams and guiding me to photography in my vocational class. Had he not given me advice and mentored me I’m not sure I would be here doing this career right now.

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is giving my son the best life I possibly can. I’ve always held down 2-3 jobs to keep my photography floating especially in the slow seasons, however, he is my motivation to keep pushing even when I’m tired, burnt out and having creators block. I want him to see what hard work and success can be like if you just believe in yourself and keep trying even when you may be failing.

Pricing:

• Family beginning at $150
• Weddings beginning at $1000
• Band promos $150+

Contact Info:

• Email: Inquiry@tristanduplichain.com
• Website: www.tristanduplichain.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/tristanduplichain
• Facebook: Facebook.com/tristanduplichain
• Twitter: Twitter.com/tris_duplichain
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/TristanDuplichain

Image Credits
Jessica Whitaker