Meet Tessa Lane

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tessa Lane.

Hi Tessa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Like a lot of people, I KNEW what my life was. I was young and loved the concept of building my life through marriage and motherhood. I was sure I would find myself within that. And I did, in many ways. I met myself as a mother at 22 and because of that, I met another version of myself as well; the exceptionally sentimental keeper of the memories. As I grew alongside my children I found every way I could to preserve those memories for them.

Little things that made our life together feel like a home they could return to, even just in nostalgia. When my second daughter was a year old, I began using a little point-and-shoot camera we had to “get creative” with this endeavor. I wanted a timeline of their lives, as lofty as that sounds. I NEEDED them to know the absolute value of living those moments together and I knew that I could tangibly offer that to them with photos.

They are precious keepsakes to me and it feels like their stories can live forever. I started to see a need around me to not just have pictures, but beautiful pictures that brought people joy. I wanted that for myself as well, so I started learning; started building a portfolio, and offering my unique perspective on love and connection. I made it a priority to see and capture the kind of images I would want to have in my home and on my walls.

It always felt like an adventure, searching and finding the sweetest expressions between families and loved ones. I try not to keep myself to a box and love to play with and try new lighting, prompts, locations, and editing. Seeing what works for every individual and catering their experience to their needs and their expectations for our time together. I still walk into each session with a little anxiety, but that fear breeds dedication.

There’s a fluttering of my heart and a weight on my chest to make it a beautiful experience with a beautiful outcome. That challenge is the hype I need to bring my best for those who trust me with what I see as sacred and important. I am maybe too sentimental and I always keep in mind that it’s not just a photo session for “clients” … it’s witnessing reverent and sacred meetings between tethered lives.

I try to quietly come to their moment, capture what they bring, and hand them those tangible memories through their gallery. It possibly sounds ridiculous, but that truly is how I create stories for sessions. My time and my kid’s time are important to me and I want to acknowledge the same thing for other people who entrust me with theirs as well.

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 a fairly smooth road, even considering it’s an “artist’s path” and those are generally more emotion-based and can really pull the passion, conflict, and insecurity from you. The hardest part has always been about perspective. You are putting yourself and your specific viewpoint out there to be seen and judged. Being able to just accept that your style or even who you are as a person isn’t for everyone can be frustrating, artistically speaking.

Wanting to prove yourself and that what you do is valid and beautiful; well, it can take a lot of time to understand the perspective of seeing that for yourself and validating your own work and the love you put into it. There are enough roadblocks and struggles in life and being in my own way and hindering my own growth is a worthy obstacle to overcome.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
When I first decided to call myself a photographer, jumping straight into the deep end without any jobs under my belt (but forcing myself to use that language to create a business that I wanted), I NEEDED to be a photographer of all things. I never say no to any job. Anything I could shoot, I did. Any session I could attempt, I would.

There are some fairly magnificent fails in my beginning galleries, but I love those because they showed me what I wanted to focus on and where I could improve. Creativity and photography are a constantly evolving work, which is so lovely to think about. After years of shooting everything, I realized that I didn’t love planned and posed situations.

Specifically newborn photography that needed so many logistical details to get what you wanted. I started to see that I became discouraged and did work I was unhappy with in those scenarios. It felt heavy for me and overwhelming. I found a passion for birth photography and loved the pace the emotion and the literal meet cutes happening all around me. I was a fly on the wall for the most ecstatic and breathtaking moments a human can experience.

I truly felt in awe of being called to witness something so sacred and the fact still isn’t lost on me. Sadly, COVID put a stop to those sessions and I found myself really being pulled to more weddings and families during that time. Elopements specifically, and small gatherings that still deserved documentation and the detail and candid visuals really brought me back to life. I take my job even more seriously after the forced isolation of 2020.

It feels paramount to connection… people in love, in all different ways, being able to reach across the world to family and friends and share those missed moments. To tell the stories that the image brings up and to remember together the importance of BEING. I’m so thankful to be a photo storyteller. I’m so thankful to have eyes that see hands that reach for another hand and soft newborn hair that curls around a tiny ear.

Moments that are so small but so significant to the way we recall our emotions connected to them. Even if all photographers feel the same, it doesn’t diminish the knowledge for myself that THAT is what I love and that is what I bring to the table. I cherish what I do and I cherish doing it for you. It’s not just a session, it’s something that brings me life passion, and vibrancy. I will forever love being able to share that whenever I can.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Conceptually, with all of the “talk” about AI and access to amazing cameras even inside our phones, I think my brain can easily become anxious and worried about the possibility of not being able to work within the field I love. So, it’s something that I have to choose to not think about. I imagine there will always be a desire for real and genuine photos that require a human being and a unique perspective in order to accomplish what you want from those photos.

People really do bring so much to the table, creatively speaking. It’s like the old adage about a recipe having the secret ingredient of love in it. It’s a perfect example of what any artist offers to their work. Passion and heart account for so much when it comes to making something more beautiful and more authentic. As far as trends… well, I’m also not one to live by other people’s opinions.

Especially when it comes to my own work and how I visually want to represent myself and who I am within a giant sea of other creatives. I do what I love and I see nuance within a photo and love the movement of life represented in them. I’m my trend… I set a bar for myself and I work to bring my vision to life to those who want it.

Contact Info:

• Website: MFolkPhoto.com
• Instagram: @mountain_folk_photography
• Facebook: @mountainfolkphotography