Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg and Rachel Lowe.
We both grew up with a love of the camera. Rachel toted one everywhere, studied under a professional portrait artist in Oregon, and won competitions in 4H. As she got into college and the digital revolution happened, she fell away from photography but kept her love of the medium. Greg documented field trips, vacations, and family at home with a point and shoot film camera or one of his mom’s many cameras. He eventually took a photography class in college; a class that ultimately turned him off completely to it as an art form. Photos we took after we met were mostly with early point and shoot digital cameras; we were just playing around and having fun documenting the memories we were making.
Then we got married.
We had arranged for some friends who were photographers in Portland to fly out for our wedding in Virginia. During the hours before and right up to our ceremony, they were there with us both photographing and supporting us as we moved through the emotions of the day; it was a wonderful and uplifting experience.
During our ceremony, our pastor remarked that he had never met two people with a greater understanding of what we were embarking upon. He read us a quote from a film called, “Shall We Dance”:
“We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does anyone’s life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”
And when we saw the images afterwards, all of the details we had missed and the experiences each of us had, it was life-changing. It allowed us to witness each other and the experiences we’d had individually and collectively during the wedding. And we both realized how much we missed photography.
We bought a DSLR camera almost immediately.
Once we had it, Rachel started photographing fervently and her images caught the eyes of friends who asked us to come photograph their families. A few months later, we attended a friend’s wedding in Washington state, and brought our new camera and our point and shoot with us. Our friends had asked a friend of theirs to photograph their wedding, and about five minutes before the ceremony was to start, she came running up to Rachel:
“I see you have a nice camera. Both of my batteries are dead; can you shoot the wedding?”
Rachel took off almost immediately, tossing me the point and shoot so I could back her up, and that was how we started. And once we started, we were hooked.
We studied, we took classes, and most of all, we made images. Posing techniques, natural lighting, lighting with flash, advanced composition, you name it, we worked on it. There probably wasn’t a place we went that we didn’t bring our camera–which eventually turned into a selection of lenses and a second camera.
We loved the medium and what it could communicate, but we were desperately trying to find our voice. The quote read at our wedding drove us to want to bear witness not only for each other but for our clients; and to do so in an authentic way.
Then we took a trip to Europe. It was almost a month; a huge trip spanning cities and towns in England, France, Italy, Austria, and Germany. On the first day, we looked at each other and knew that the trip was going to be about the images we could make. We challenged ourselves to experiment; architecture, landscapes, self-portraits, and most of all, street photography. We documented the entire trip with more images than we could count.
But the street photography was what captivated us. The idea that we were photographing people moving through the world and, just like in the weddings we’d photographed, the moments had no do-overs. The moments were what was important.
Understanding that was what catapulted us forward into documentary photography.
We started bringing that concept to our portraits and weddings. We began focusing less and less on the perfectly-posed, perfectly-lit, perfectly-already-done images and more on the moments that drove the experiences our clients were having. We found those genuine moments of love and connection to be utterly beautiful, and our clients were able to experience the feelings and thoughts and emotions they’d had in those moments.
From our humble beginnings, we’ve had the privilege to photograph couples, families, and events all over the United States and the world.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As a husband and wife team from the outset, it was a challenge to find the balance of how to manage the intersections of our marriage and our business. We stepped on each others’ toes quite a bit. We often had overlapping duties and would unintentionally get in each others’ way, or even double the work for ourselves. Until we started designing clear role and boundaries around who needed to do what. A book called “The E-Myth, Revisited,” by Michael Gerber, and working with an amazing coach, Lesley Glenner (https://voyagedenver.com/interview/life-work-lesley-glenner/?fbclid=IwAR2y-2TLRchYn8omJtnGQjdQ1ieLaS2bStlW0ugg0pqIxHD-Q0Q4DttapeI), helped us to move through these difficulties, clarify roles, and work even better together.
We established our business in the DC area of Virginia, but as we traveled to different parts of the country, we felt a pull to move. Following a volatile end to 2016 and the advice of a friend we’d met while photographing a wedding in Europe, we decided to take a vacation in Colorado. We immediately decided to move here, and by the fall of 2017, we had sold our home and driven out to the Rockies. It was exciting, and it also meant reestablishing our business in a new local market.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
We both grew up with the cookie-cutter style, glamour shot, 50 canned poses, “say cheese” sort of imagery that made us feel awkward and unseen.
We do away with all of that.
We believe in focusing on genuine connection. We’re documentary wedding and portrait photographers, which means that about 90% of what we photograph is “unposed.” We’re incredibly proud of how we individualize the experience for each of our clients, and their images are always unique.
When you look at an image of yourself, there’s an amazing ability to remember what it was you were feeling and experiencing at that moment. Even if it’s a far-off memory, there’s an immutable connection to the moments we’ve lived. And some moments, when you see them again and you remember and feel that memory, it’s a pure gift.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
With pandemic heavily affecting everyone and everything this year, we’ve shifted the conversation with our clients towards what is still possible.
For couples getting married, that may mean a “micro wedding” followed by a huge blow-out next year whenever things settle down, or even an anniversary session!
Since we’re documentary photographers, for families, high school seniors, and our other portrait clients, that means witnessing the beauty and connection of the time we’ve been given. Though the limitations have been challenging, this time has also brought multitudes of change and progress that can be embraced. Many of us are spending more time at home with our family as the pace of life has slowed. Many of us are reconnecting with nature more often. Many of us are discovering new parts of ourselves as this time has brought about deeper levels of introspection. What has been uncovered, noticed, appreciated can be documented.
We’ve also had the privilege of working with many businesses that are re-branding or updating their marketing imagery, and we’re rapidly expanding that part of our business. We believe that values-based businesses that communicate to their clients with authentic messaging and stories are the future, and what better time to assess your brand and messaging to clients?
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rachelandgregphoto.com
- Phone: 7036297873
- Email: greg@rachelandgregphoto.com
- Instagram: lowe.togs
- Facebook: facebook.com/rachelandgreg
Image Credit:
Catalina Jean Photography, Rachel & Greg
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