Today we’d like to introduce you to Autumn Thornsberry.
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?
Hi! I am Autumn Thornsberry of athornsphoto! At 13, I got my very first camera and by 15, I photographed my very first wedding! I fell in love with portraiture at a young age – doing senior photos for all of my friends while I was in high school and weddings on the weekends to pay for college. Although photography was my biggest passion, I went to college for medicine. I didn’t think that it was possible for me to just open a business or for my art to ever pay the bills. It seemed impossible. I was 21 when I graduated with my college degree in Biology – and the day after graduation, I filed an LLC for athornsphoto. At the time, I had applications pending for medical school but it was heavy on my heart to open a business. I had nothing left to lose at that point. It felt like all of the doors were closed and I was standing in the hallway, waiting, with a lot of blind faith. “If your dreams aren’t scaring you – they aren’t big enough.” I think I would have loved medicine for the same reasons that I loved being a waitress: I genuinely just love people. I wanted to impact people’s lives. But what better way to love on others, than to open my very own business that celebrates the most significant, beautiful moments of their lives?
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are a lot of days that I look back at how far I’ve come and am in awe of how much has happened. I think there comes a point in life where when you follow the passions in your heart + your calling – the dreams really do start chasing you. I think what is meant for us, won’t ever miss us. I’ve endured a lot growing up but one of the few constants in my life has always been photography. With anything, there is good + bad but instead of labeling it all as either one or the other – I have learned to hold both. To be whole means knowing how to hold the tension between the highs + the lows. I don’t want perfection, I want goodness. Perfection is complete where goodness has potential, there is so much left to utilize & shape still. Sorrow carves the holes for joys to fill. The challenges have helped me get to where I am today, and I have hope that today’s challenges will make sense in years to come.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love running a small business! But I am an artist before I am anything else. I love watching how others evolve their roles once following their dreams. For me personally, right now, I just want to create. For myself and for others. I want for people that visit my corner of the internet and feel something. Whether I am trying a new format, using a new medium or taking my work to a brand-new place. I want to inspire others to follow their hearts. I want my art to be cohesive, but also a little messy. I never want to put myself in a box. I want others to feel like they are capable to create what they want to, even if they aren’t “good” at it. When I was navigating the path for myself, I think of those that lit the way for me. They were always the ones that were so unapologetically themselves + living their life to the fullest. It made me feel like I was capable. I think the world can be very dark, especially online, and I hope that when people are near me – whether it’s in real life or online – they feel light.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I think it has been really beautiful to watch how as a whole society deconstructed – and unfolded. I think a lot of our systems as a whole were questioned during Covid. We watched things that “never shut down” or “could never stop” – stop. Then for us to work around those things or continue to keep moving, but in a way that might be better for us. I think we were able to take time, without distractions, and really dig deeper into our hearts. In my life – I watched a lot of my friends switch careers entirely and chase dreams they never had the time to really chase before.
I think it showed us the bigger picture – that life + time are fragile. That what we thought mattered, really didn’t. It helped a lot of people to switch their perspectives. That if it all went away, what did you hope you did more of? If anything, it gave us all a new appreciation & gratitude for the little things.
But with that said, the pandemic was/is a devastating thing. I know that there are so many people that didn’t have the ability to better their lives because they were simply trying to survive, or dealing with loss. I don’t want to overlook that. My heart is with everybody in every season.
Contact Info:
- Email: autumnthornsberry@gmail.com
- Website: www.athornsphoto.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/athornsphoto
- Facebook: facebook.com/athornsphoto
