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Meet Trailblazer Autumn Parry

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Autumn Parry.

Autumn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve always been a creative at heart, even since a very young age. Everything from drawing, painting and of course photography – I loved it all. As a kid, my parents gifted me a Polaroid iZone camera and I used it to document life around me, which at ten years old mostly consisted of home life, family and of course our dog. I was fascinated by the ability to use a camera as a tool to hold on to a moment in time. Looking back, I’m surprised I had any sense of fleeting moments and enough awareness to want to protect them in a way that could always be remembered. In hindsight, I think the importance of a moment became clear to me when I captured some of the very last days with our family dog.

Photography began to rise above other art forms because of its ability to document life around me, which was truly invaluable. In high school, I took a B&W photography class and brought my film camera on a class trip to Nicaragua where I fell deeper in love with photographing people and environmental portraits. I decided to attend school for photojournalism at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, which is where I met my husband Griffin. With a shared passion for photography as a way to share stories to shed light on important community issues, we became a team. After years of working solely in journalism, we now work together shooting weddings and helping tell couples’ love stories.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road and I think that my first piece of advice to young women starting their journey is to be okay with that. Be patient and be open to change, be okay with leaning on the people around you for support and advice, and above all trust in yourself and your ability to succeed. All of those things have been and continue to be critical for me to make it where I am today and where I want to be in the future.

After school, I worked as a photojournalist at several newspapers from California to Virginia and was lucky to have mentors who helped shape me as a photographer. Unfortunately, the journalism industry has seen better days. As I grew as a photojournalist, my photo editors and colleagues were laid off, the family-owned papers where I worked were filing for bankruptcy and being sold off to hedge-funds that implemented widespread staffing cuts. It wasn’t long before I too was laid off, which was intimidating to experience so soon after graduating. It quickly became clear that if I wanted to continue working as a photographer, I was going to need to reinvent myself.

All of this spurred me to think about other career paths where I could use my photography skills, work with people, grow, and – especially after being laid off – have control over my own success.

Having looked into wedding photographers for our wedding, I was really impressed with how much storytelling was being brought into the work of wedding photography. I could tell that this type of work would be a pursuit where I could really push myself, grow as a photographer, sustain myself financially and find fulfillment.

So, I started second shooting for local wedding photographers in hopes that I could make a transition to become one myself. Even though I had built up an extensive photojournalism portfolio, it was almost like I was starting from scratch to build a wedding portfolio. It was a ton of work because I was working as an Image Tech at Microsoft at the same time, but eventually I gained enough experience under my belt to begin booking clients on my own.

We were even able to attend a lighting workshop put on by the photographers who captured our wedding, Gillespie Photography, which really helped spur us to think differently about how we approached using strobes and artificial light – a game changer for our portraiture work.

The more work I’ve done as a wedding photographer, the more I’ve seen the similarities to photojournalism emerge: anticipating what’s about to happen so you can be in the right place at the right time, finding compelling ways to capture the scenes that play out in front of us, telling stories, catching emotion, and using photography just in the way I was drawn to at the age of 10, to help people hold on to those truly meaningful moments in time.

My final piece of advice to young women on their journeys: You are more powerful and resilient than you give yourself credit for. We are all our own worst critics, which can help us grow, but it can also tear us down. Don’t be afraid to have some confidence in yourself, even if no one else does and hold on to that trust in your intuition which will help you create your own path. You can’t be disappointed for failing, because failure is vital and necessary for growth. You only fail if you don’t learn anything and you can only be disappointed in yourself if you don’t try. Don’t be afraid to try new things and connect with other professionals who can help you grow and provide community.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Autumn Parry Photography – what should we know?
As wedding photographers, I’d say that our specialty is storytelling, and doing so in a way that’s authentic to the couples we work with. A lot of that comes from our background in photojournalism, understanding where to be to capture meaningful moments, both big and small, including all the quirky and unexpected things that happen throughout the day.

As much as we love to deliver those handful of stunning portraits, being able to artistically document the full story of every wedding day and capture the important moments is what we aim to do for every couple. It’s a special experience to be able to look back at your photos years later, and really be transported back to the day as if you’re experiencing it all over again.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
There are a ton of opportunities that women are well positioned for, and I think recognizing our challenges and addressing them is helping more women get a fair shot at the same things as men. During my time as a photojournalist, I’d be given assignments that had sensitivities, with female subjects, because it helped them feel more comfortable opening up. Creating that connection, and approaching any challenge with understanding and empathy, always benefits trust building. When people let you into their lives and let their walls down, that’s when you have the most opportunities as a storyteller, to capture true intimacy, and share that with others. It’s a powerful thing.

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Autumn Parry Photography

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