Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Hawes.
Hi Hannah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started my journey in photography back in the nineties in highschool. I developed my first roll of film very clumsily and printed my first black and white print which wasn’t very good.. but I was hooked! The magic of watching that image appear on a white sheet of photo paper is all it took! I took photography all 4 years of highschool! I became the photographer for our school paper! Everywhere I went that cannon AE1 was with me!
Through the years I always had a camera! I had my own little darkroom in my basement when I got my first house! As technology advanced when film became the thing of the past I switched to digital and practiced for thousands of hours honing my craft. I had a full time job, but did weddings and portraits on the side.. any excuse to take pictures I was there.. my health then took a turn and I became physically disabled.. I fought my way back from paralysis so I could continue to take photos and share with the world what I see.. I still have mobility struggles, and have many health challenges that will never go away but I keep trying to fight them back to take photos.. when I’m eventually gone off this earth I hope that my photos left behind will show the world and my loved ones how beautiful our space truly is..
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?
Well this is a very competitive business, there are all those people who think all it takes is a camera to take great photos! But they don’t realize to get where I am with my art it has taken thousands upon thousands of hours over the last 30 years.. also my 50k image google storage can prove all the clicks, and edits etc. I have done.. my health challenges have also been a big struggle! I have CRPS which is very rare and extremely painful, I also have fibromyalgia, igan nephraphy which will eventually take my kidneys, and a nodule on my optic nerve, which may eventually take my sight from my left eye.. so these are all obstacles I overcome everyday.. but I don’t give up on my passion
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do photography! I am very passionate about it! I have had my work in some magazines, on the news, various places online. My style is to capture the natural personality of a person. My best shots are usually when I take a photo on the fly and the person doesn’t know I’m going to do it! I also love taking nature photos, and have fallen into a niche market of taking photos of indie artists from our local music scene. I love this new adventure because the lighting is always challenging, it is fast paced, and I love meeting the people
What matters most to you?
I want people to see and appreciate the beauty of our world and themselves! As a society we are conditioned to always be on the run and so much passes us by because of it.. we are also conditioned to be so critical of ourselves that we do not see how beautiful we truly are
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swmichiganphotographer/
- LinkedIn: swmichiganphoto
