Meet Paige Young of Near Hudsonville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige Young.

Hi Paige , it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started photography when I was 16. Around that time, Myspace was full on -full force. Digital cameras were new and shiny and becoming affordable. I didn’t have a lot of photographs growing up because of the lack of access of digital cameras, and disposable cameras weren’t necessarily something that my parents bought on the regular. Even my freshman Winterball photographs were taken on a camera that took FLOPPY disks and those only stored FOUR IMAGES. Wild times.

I remember my sophomore winter break I took my friend to Florida – we took my camera and just had fun photographing with my camera, seeking for the perfect profile photograph for her. She never felt herself worthy of the camera – long story short, she loved the images of her. I ended up photographing her senior images and was addicted to the responses I heard back – listening to people love themselves filled my cup in new ways I hadn’t experienced before. From there I ended up interning with a local studio photographer for a year while going to a local community college for black and white film photography.

I pursued my own business, capturing anything I could; weddings, engagements, families, seniors, all while studying photography and working as a work study for a non-profit. Eventually I would transfer to GVSU and continue my degrees in Advertising/PR, Photography and minor in Business with the goals of opening my own studio. Through undergrad I ran my official business of Apaige Photography, which took off quite a bit, worked 2 part-time management jobs in retail, 1 part time job at a gym, and eventually graduated with three degrees. I actually have no idea how I balanced all of this work but I did it – and I did it successfully.

Out of college I worked full time for a home-building company as a social-media marketing lead, that also included creating videos and photographing new-build homes – however my business BLEW UP in this time. I don’t know where I got reposted but my instagram account went from 2,000k followers to 20k followers in a week. At the end of 2014 I quit my full time job, went back to working ‘full time’ at a gym [which was very easy] and really was working full time with my business – photographing all weekends and editing all weeknights. I wanted to work at my gym still because my partner and I were receiving free memberships, but also during the winter months it was a nice steady income for me.

In 2015, I quit the gym job and went back to graduate school – but I did work full time on my business. At this point I was taking 40-50 weddings a year, but my goals were to teach at the university level when I was in my 30s – so I began to think about post wedding Paige – while I was still ‘in-wedding Paige.’ I got married to my partner, and started to future plan for everything ahead in my life. From 2016-2019 I really overworked myself, but my name was really out there. I didn’t say no to much – and although it was a very profitable and filling time in my life [passion wise for my heart/ and job] it was a lot that I took on. The week I graduated from both of my Master Degrees [MFA in Photography and MAVCS] I was actually photographing a destination wedding in Cancun. I had set up two of my Thesis Graduate Exhibitions on a Wednesday, flew out on a Thursday evening after a night class, met with the couple Friday morning [who was from Texas], went to a rehearsal dinner that night, submitted two 250-500 page papers the following morning, photographed a wedding on a Saturday night and went home by Sunday morning. So that pretty much summarizes that year for me and what it looked like.

When we discuss entrepreneurship we discuss this idea of ease of running things ourselves, our own schedules, which is true- but you do have to be willing to GRIND if you want to be successful. 2020 was hard for everyone, but I did take away some needed valuable lessons from it. I was lucky to only have one wedding cancel on me that year, almost everyone just reduced in size, and I still got to photograph 35 weddings. However, I learned a new documentary style and really began to look at weddings as seeking out the ‘last’ moments we can capture during these special days – and that changed my life.

Throughout my overworking stage – because I took on everything, I did see every type of clientele imaginable. From people I identify with to people I dont, which only allowed me to really become moldable to anyone – and that was a valuable lesson I also learned. To be successful in this business, you really do have to make everyone feel comfortable, to be seen, to feel human.

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?
My brain wants to answer this as ‘yes! I’ve only gone upward each year!” But i think a normal person without OCD/ADHD would look at my life and say that I have not had one moment of pause. I haven’t allowed myself to have a social life. My undergrad experience wasn’t filled with social experiences or friend gatherings like everyone else – I mean, I had moments where I hung out with friends, but for the most part it was wake up, work out, work, go to class, work, go to a club meeting, work, edit, go to bed, and repeat. If I wasn’t editing, I was photographing.

My personal life through 2014-2019 was spent documenting only people’s memories, not my own. My cousin, who was more of my brother, went through hospice twice and passed away when I was photographing a wedding in Oregon – which has always been my biggest fear – me being gone for work when family needs me. But there is only one of me and I am committed to my clients.

So I think the largest struggle for me has been balancing my own life and my work life. Knowing when to put boundaries of when to stop working and when to set time aside for those around my own personal life. I have definitely gotten better about it since 2022, but it took me going to a very scary place mentally for me to realize how important that balance is.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Currently I play a beautiful balance between creative and Fine art wedding photography.
Since COVID I really lean into CAPTURING emotions, moments, candids, and trying to seek moments about to occur rather than react to them. I love to create portraits and back lit images – and I would say I am more known for these images around Grand Rapids – but I also love moments that are filled with emotions that you can feel.

On the fine art side, I have been specializing in a grief series that addresses the topic head on that we as a society always want to avoid. On both ends of the spectrum, wedding and death, there are some very impactful feelings there – but how potent are these emotions? Both of these events carry joy, carry sorrow. A grandparent who isn’t doing well but busting a move with their granddaughter for maybe the last time, or a mom at a funeral who is looking at an old photo and giggling at a memory. Such beautiful moments that all hold such big weight.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I currently teach full time at GVSU – and teaching art has got to be one of my biggest passions. The most beautiful thing about art is the fact it is so non bias and uncensored. I am absolutely fueled by the idea for inclusivity and equality. The more the world feels jaded or unjust, the more I want to make it equal and right. The more Trans and Gay people feel erased the more I want to promote them to be seen. Our history as humans is so complex and it has never been binary. I love showing students the work of Claude Cahun, or of Greek Sculptures because gender has been fluid for centuries. Race has been complex and inequality has been a conversation for centuries as well throughout countries, unfortunately, throughout history as well. My empathy in my fine art work extends to my commercial work within this lens, and though I may not say these things vocally to everyone – I hope that it extends to every frame visually.

Pricing:

• Senior 450 – hour-hour and a half session
• Boudoir – 475 – hour session in studio
• Wedding – Ranges between 2800-4800
• Family – 1/2 hour – 350
• Family – Full Hour – 475

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.apaigephotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apaigephotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apaigebbeautiful
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@paigeyoung4674
• Other: https://www.paigekyoung.com