Exploring Life & Business with Colter Broadwell of Colter Broadwell Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Colter Broadwell. 

Hi Colter, 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 was born in Denver CO but I moved to Fort Collins CO around 6 months old. I have one older brother who is 5 years older than me. My family life growing up was very rough on me. My first big memories was of my parents fighting. They did not have the best relationship and when I was 5, they got a divorce. I remember it almost being a relief for me. The fighting stopped. The chaos stopped. The stress stopped. My dad moved in with his parents in Johnstown CO and my mom stayed in the house they had bought. So, I got the best of both worlds for a period of time. No fighting, but I still get to see them both. This eventually stopped when my dad moved to North Carolina. This was hard on me. For some reason, I had convinced myself that it was my fault that my dad left. It deeply saddened me. 

When I was 6 my mom met my stepdad Dean. He was a gymnastics coach and had been a school teacher for a little bit. He was supposed to be a good family man. This was not the case. At the age of 6 years old, he started sexually abusing me. This continued until I was 11. This started my extreme struggles with mental health. I went from a pretty free-spirited smart kid to an extreme introvert with intense anxiety and depression. This caused major issues for my social life. I became an easy target for bullies and struggled making true friends. The only place I really exceeded in life was in school. I was decently smart and could get good grades. This caused people to praise me and show me appreciation which I thrived for. So, my main outlet in life was school. 

Depression rocked my world. I remember being 10 years old and not necessarily being suicidal, but just not wanting to be around anymore. My life was pain. I constantly searched for a solution for this. My first big addiction in life was video games. It was a way for me to escape my reality and fully encase myself in the world of the game. It gave me a sense of peace. This search for escape was a constant. Eventually, I found drugs and alcohol and I am so thankful that I did because I probably wouldn’t have made it through adolescence without it. At the age of 14, I smoked weed for the first time and I found what I thought would be my solution for life. There was peace. There was joy. There was comfortability. 

My drug and alcohol use continued and at the age of 16, I found hard drugs and used heroin for the first time. Once again, there was peace, joy, and comfort. Finding my escape in drugs allowed me to show up for the rest of my life like a “normal” person. I could put on a persona to show the world and I was amazing at it. I graduated high school with a 3.9 GPA, 20 college credits, and was accepted into the engineering school at CSU. On paper, everything looked perfect. The only problem was that my addiction to drugs was only going to get worse. 

Eventually my personal life and drug addiction life came crashing together. I could no longer keep up this facade. I was kicked out of college, my friends and family started to leave, the arrests started piling up, and the misery I once used drugs to escape from came back with a vengeance like I had never seen before. I reached a point where the will to live was no longer there. The 4 months leading up to me going to rehab and getting better were the worst 4 months of my life. I had multiple arrests and overdoses. Two of my overdoses were in my mom’s house where she had to do CPR on me to keep me alive until the paramedics arrived. Something I have still yet to forgive myself for. 

The last overdose brought me to my knees. I had to seek help. I couldn’t keep destroying the one person who hadn’t given up on me, my mom. August 1st, 2016, I checked into rehab. Best decision I have made my entire life. This began my journey into the life I have today. I decided I must face my trauma and issues if I were to get better. I started therapy and opened up about the sexual abuse. Because of my stepdad’s jobs, gymnastics coach, and third-grade teacher, my therapist was in a position where they had to report it. I decided I wanted to do it so I made a report to the cops. Then came the fruition of my life’s worst fears: everybody knowing. 

My stepdad was arrested October of 2016. Every major news station reported on it and it felt like my life was ruined. Depression. Misery. Suicidal thoughts. These ruled my life. I was blessed with an awesome therapist and great friends in my life to get me through. I made it through. I not only made it through, I conquered all my fears. I went to every court date of his even when the panic attacks were almost unbearable. I took my power and control back. And it was the greatest feeling of my whole life. My stepdad was eventually convicted for his crimes against me. The exact outcome was not what I would consider fair, or even close to it, but I got the relief and closure I needed. I got to show up at sentencing and tell him, the courtroom, and the world exactly how his actions impacted my life. It was freedom. 

With the hardest most scariest thing in my life behind me, I hit the ground running. Nothing was going to stop me. I was sober. I was determined. And I was at peace. I eventually went back to school and graduated with my bachelor’s degree. I built a community of friends arounds me. I found the love of my life. I adopted a dog and inherited another dog and two cats through my significant other. I bought a house. I got the “good” job. I had my family in my life. I built a life I had never dreamed possible. Thus started my adventure into photography. 

When I was around 13 years old, I got my first camera and I loved it. I enjoyed every aspect of it. It was a way of self-expression. It was a way to portray the world in different lights. It was a way to show people the world. I fell in love with it from the start. Drug addiction took this from me for a long time but I knew after getting sober it was time for me to take it back. And that is just what I did. After graduating college, I found myself with all this free time again. My partner had bought me a camera for Christmas and so now with all this free time I just started taking pictures again during any free moment I had. The whole thing blew up a lot faster than I expected. 

A few months into enjoying photography again I started to get a lot of attraction. People kept asking me “When are you going to create a website for your photos?” “Have you thought about having your own photography business?” “Can I buy a print?” I was in shock. Self-esteem is something I have always struggled with and I never thought anyone would appreciate my photos. But reality was showing me something different. So, I started Colter Broadwell Photography. 

It’s been a dream come true. I’ve come to realize that the only thing I want to do in life is take photos and share them with the people I love. And I’ve been granted the opportunity to do that today. I went from being a dying drug addict to a thriving photographer and I couldn’t be happier today. 

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 has been anything but smooth. Anything worthwhile in life takes a lot of work and determination and there are bound to be struggles along the way. That is what makes it so rewarding. My biggest struggle was my mental health. I had to get well. And unfortunately, getting well takes time. I did not get sick overnight, so I will not get well overnight. My sickness was formed over years of sexual abuse and drug addiction. So, it was going to take years to also get well. It has been a long but rewarding journey. 

After I moved out of a sober house, I stopped therapy. I no longer had insurance that would pay for it. I started to focus on my life and future more. This was a huge growth phase for me. How do I work a job and show up regularly? How do I pay rent? How do I buy groceries? Do laundry? Take care of myself? All things I needed to learn. And that learning came with ups and down but slowly I started to learn how to be a functional adult. 

After I got control of the basics, I started to focus on my goals. I got a better job. I bought my own car. I went back to school. All of which came with struggles. Anxiety and depression just don’t stop because I want them to. I reached a point where I started to have panic attacks again and the peace I had found began to fade. I had to seek help again. I found a therapist that specialized in trauma therapy and started seeing them regularly. This helped a lot and I am still seeing them today nearly two years later. 

By far the biggest struggle today is managing my life and making time for everything. When I was in school, I barely had time to take photos. I worked full time and went to school full time. So, photography did not have a huge place in my life. After graduating I took all the time I used to spend on school and applied it to photography. But finding the time is still a struggle. I work 45 to 50 hours a week at my job and I am also very active in the recovery community. So, this takes up a lot of my time today. I find myself taking any free moments I have, whether it be 15 minutes or 2 hours, editing my photos and updating my website. My weekends consist of me going to the mountains and sleeping in my car so I can spend as much time taking photos as possible. But I find it still not to be enough. 

Landscape photography is largely about timing. Right place, right time. I strive to be at the right place at the right time but my full-time job does not always allow for that. I end up being insanely busy with no free time. I find my relaxation in the photography though. My dream is to take photos full time and I am in the process of doing that. That is by far my biggest struggle right now. Getting everything in place so I can take that leap and just focus on photography. I know it is coming and I will be ready when it is time. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am a landscape photographer that focuses on taking photos of the mountains and adventure photography. I love climbing, hiking, snowshoeing, anything that involves being active in the mountains. Because of this, I take a lot of unique photos in harder-to-reach locations. I am always striving for that next adventure to get the next cool photo. My willingness to push the limits lands me in unique and creative settings for my photography. 

What sets me apart from others is my willingness to push the boundaries of photography. I am always willing to try new and unconventional things. This results in a lot of bad photos just because I try a lot of different things but it also results in really cool unique photos. For example, last winter when it snowed, I tried some long exposure night photography and used the orange glow that the storm creates at night to create cool colors throughout the photos. This resulted in two of my most favorite photos. They are by far two of my most proud photos I have ever taken. 

I also learn a lot from my “mistakes”. Every time I go out and try something new, I learn. My willingness to learn from my mistakes and just learn in general allows me to continue to grow as a photographer and perfect my craft. There is nothing I won’t try and no adventure too big. 

The main service I offer is selling my photography prints. All prints are for sale on my website. I offer prints, framed prints, canvases, metal prints, wood prints, and acrylic prints. I also offer some home goods. I am currently working on building this out more. As of now, I offer mugs, stickers, posters, and blankets. This aspect of my business continues to grow and I am always willing to make something specific upon request. 

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
You can support me by following all of my social media platforms, sharing my work, and reaching out with any business opportunities. I am always looking to be a part of shows, festivals, and events. I am also looking for a studio to display my photography in so if anyone knows of any places please reach out. I am always looking for fellow photographers to collaborate with; whether that is through a backpacking trip, brainstorming ideas, or even just editing photos together. I have a little community of people who also have photography businesses that I regularly go out and take photos with and learn with. We are always seeking more people to join us! 

Contact Info:

• Email: colterbphotography@gmail.com
• Website: www.colterbroadwellphotography.com/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/colter_broadwell_photography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/colterbroadwellphotography
• Twitter: twitter.com/colterbphotos

Image Credits:
Colter Broadwell Photography