Community Highlights: Meet Kari Paine of Kari Paine Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Paine.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started with wedding photography because my friend was getting married and said, “Hey! You’re queer. I’m queer! I need a photographer for my wedding. You have a camera!” At the time, I had an old camera and had taught myself how to use it via YouTube, but had never considered doing anything more with it. Photographing that first wedding made me see that I wanted to make photographing queer people part of my career. From that point, I’ve grown to photograph weddings in every corner of Michigan, the U.S., and even internationally, but I’ve always kept my focus on LGBTQ couples.

I also have grown a thriving graphic design side of my business, known as Orso Design Co (a nod to my entrepreneurial Italian relatives, the Orsolinis). In this business, I work with queer-run organizations to do logo, brand, and website design. I love having two branches of my business for photography and design; they fill such different creative buckets for me.

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?
What immediately comes to mind is how being a photographer for LGBTQ weddings gives me a front-row seat to so much pain and suffering that still exists in our community. Parents not accepting their child’s LGBTQ marriage, family members saying bigoted things, vendors misgendering the marriers….these things are not uncommon at LGBTQ weddings. During the wedding process, queer people often have to put up strong boundaries around family to protect their peace. It’s something that so many straight couples take for granted at weddings, but queer people can’t *not* think about.

Aside from this, the biggest struggle for me has been my inner critic. As an artist, I’m in a constant state of invention and reinvention. My biggest struggle as a small business owner comes from the voice inside who is constantly telling me my work is not good enough and I should quit. It’s a double-edged sword: on the bad days, the critic’s voice can be louder than my own. On the other edge of the sword, the critic motivates me to dig deeper, create more meaningful work, and make my own voice louder. I’ve gotten much better channeling my inner critic for good over the years. Running your own business makes you tough, that’s for sure!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
There are two branches of my business:
– Kari Paine Photography: I specialize in LGBTQ weddings and engagements. I work with queer couples across the country, photographing primarily on analog film using a documentary-style approach. I love using flash photography and capturing candids.

– Orso Design Co: Graphic design company that specializes in brand, logo, and website design for queer-run organizations and businesses. I love using a retro-timeless aesthetic, hand lettering, and illustration.

How do you define success?
I define success as knowing your values and living in line with them. For me, being able to serve LGBTQ people through photography and design is the best possible alignment of my skills with my values. I am lucky!

Pricing:

• Photography: Custom proposal created based on wedding day specifics. Starting at $5k for Michigan weddings and $6k for out-of-state
• Design: Brand design package with logo, brand guidelines, collateral, and website template starting at $5k.
• Sliding scale prices available for queer people

Contact Info:

• Website: karipaine.com for photography and orsodesignco.com for design
• Instagram: @karipaine for photography and @orsodesignco for design