Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacie Huckeba.
Hi Stacie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was carrying a camera around with me when I was three years old. Making photographs was magic to me then. It still is. My journey here is long and winding and would take more than a few paragraphs to fully explore, so I’ll try to be as brief as possible.
After college, I did some work in the music industry but never quite broke out, so I moved to California and worked for a while as a waitress picking up photography gigs on the side with a large-scale event company who in turn hired me full time. Unfortunately, the photography part of that job stayed part-time but the marketing and PR took center stage.
I loved the job but my heart and head called me to Nashville, where my friend and singer-songwriter Todd Snider encouraged me to come live and work. He cultivated many relationships for me that landed me in front of heroes and legends, this time with the camera in tow. Peter Cooper and Eric Brace were both an integral part of my rising career.
However, in 2012 I began a personal journey, one where I lost 250 pounds. I blogged for the Huffington Post through that journey and the massive headspace change that accompanied that long road. And it was that journey and the people who followed along with me on that journey who truly led me to a new way of using my camera.
I no longer want to only focus on making a living, I need my images to tell stories. Primarily the stories of marginalized people, people who have been overlooked, people we often don’t want to see but very much need to. It is through seeing them and hearing their stories that our own lives take on new meaning. I now shoot for celebrities like Dolly Parton and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Those relationships give me great pride and I love them, but my heart is truly in the personal projects I take on. I want to tell bigger stories about the human condition.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Hahahahaha. Oh heavens no. I’ve been chucked around like a tennis ball in a dog park. Besides the daunting task of building a career as a photographer in a town full of photographers and carving out a space for myself in a highly male-dominated field, I have failed more times than I can count. I’ve been flat broke more times than I can count. I’ve been the target of hate groups and taken flak from both enemies and peers for being too much or too loud, or too provocative. I disregard those voices now, but that took huge amounts of practice and patience.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a photographer, writer, public speaker and activist. I’m proud of all of it. There are times where the teenager who lives in my brain can’t believe that she works with icons who she admired as a kid. There are also times that the insecure fat kid who also lives in my brain can’t believe that she now mentors and champions for kids like her and for all kinds of marginalized people in all kinds of communities. My decade-long trek into homeless outreach work has changed thousands of lives. I’m proud of all of it. I love lifting people up, whether it’s through a client by being able to showcase them in their best light or lifting the lives of people through my words and community engagement and I think that is what sets me apart.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love Nashville! It’s the first place I’ve ever truly felt at “home”. The creative spirit of the city is inspiring and the fact that you can drive out of a hustling urban environment and be wandering through rich forests or beautiful lakes in less than an hour is a huge perk, as is its central location. You can take a day trip to almost anywhere from here. This town also has an amazing sense of community and is home to some of the most brilliant & kind people I’ve ever known. It’s growing faster than I prefer, which makes the traffic suck these days but honestly, I still love it. I can’t imagine living anywhere else right now.
Contact Info:
- Email: stacie@staciehuckeba.com
- Website: www.staciehuckeba.com
- Instagram: @eastsidestacie
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/eastsidestacie
- Twitter: @stacieHuckeba
