Daily Inspiration: Meet Nick Hagen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Hagen.

Hi Nick, 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?
I grew up in a Macomb County suburb. My dad was a firefighter, my mom was a nurse, and, aside from watching a lot of movies, art wasn’t emphasized in my upbringing. I wasn’t gifted academically and didn’t exactly thrive at the all boys Catholic High School I attended. However, they offered a photography class that I was excited about. The idea that I might want to pursue photography seriously clicked when I was working in the darkroom alone on a picture. I’d come out to look at my fifth or so print and my teacher said something like, “You’re getting pretty into this, huh?”

I didn’t like anything more than photography and without a particularly impressive GPA, I enrolled at College for Creative Studies where your portfolio matters and your grades don’t. Thankfully my excitement around photography grew as I learned more.

I have now been working professionally as a freelance photographer in Detroit for over 10 years. While also having corporate and nonprofit clients, I’m a photojournalist covering news and making portraits for various local, national, and international outlets. Making a living off of meeting people, telling stories, and having an excuse to see places I wouldn’t otherwise have access to is a gift.

My business became workable when in 2015 I decided to start showing portraiture on my website as my main offering. Not long after I switched that up I started getting hit up by The Washington Post occasional assignments. That snowballed into more national news outlets and local businesses hitting me up.

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?
I don’t think it’s possible to have a smooth road as a freelancer doing creative work. The inconsistent ebb and flow of work is just tough to get comfortable in. It’s hard to not start feeling stir crazy when no work comes your way for a week or two and it’s hard to juggle too many jobs when they all happen to come in at the same time. Work generally slows down for me in January and ramps back up by the time summer hits. Every year I try to coach myself to anticipate the slump and just ride it out but there’s usually a day when I toy with more consistent job opportunities. The work always arrives again and my brain always bounces back. The lack of guarantees that work is going to return is just mentally taxing. I thought the anxiety around that might have been personal until I started meeting more freelancers who have almost identical patterns to me. When you’re super busy you’re tired and unhappy, when you’re slow and resting you’re unhappy because you crave the dopamine hit of working.

I think it might bear repeating, I love photography. I wouldn’t have gotten so deep into it if I hadn’t pursued it professionally. There’s just a physical and mental toll that all work takes though, even if you love it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a freelance photographer that photographs people in almost all capacities. I make portraits for news and media outlets and for marketing and advertising uses. I also cover breaking news and corporate events. The kind of work I make is, across the board, consistent regardless if I’m photographing an advertising campaign or an environmental portrait for The New York Times. Not to deflect the question but I think I’m too close to give a deep dive into what makes my pictures different from others. I almost exclusively work with folks who aren’t models, so I just try to make pictures that are honest and accurately portray them. I gravitate towards contrast and color so my pictures are pretty punchy.

I don’t know what other photographers do but, regarding my approach, I have very deliberately crafted a real version of myself that comes out while I’m working. Being photographed is weird and scary for most people so I try to be light hearted but super engaged with how someone’s feeling. I also try to work efficiently so they aren’t awkwardly waiting around while I fumble with my gear. However they feel is 100% cool and I’m accommodating if they don’t like a pose I put them in or just need a break for a minute. If I’m proud of anything, I’m really happy to have had many people tell me that being photographed by me felt easy.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was an introverted indoor kid so I was happier than hell watching reruns of the Simpsons, playing my Nintendo 64, and having at home double features of 00’s era indie movies. Even though I wasn’t exactly choosing to be around them, I always found people interesting. I honestly think that came from the movies I watched growing up. Both movies and photography, when used in the way I like the most, are mediums that invoke empathy. There are so many but photographers like W. Eugene Smith or Diane Arbus are so good at making pictures that show people’s interiority. If my photography career didn’t work out I definitely would have gotten a degree in social work or counseling. Photography has been a way for me to meet different kinds of people and hear what they’re all about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nickhagen.photo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickhagenphoto/