Exposure 04: I get it from my momma
Portraits of my mom in Utah.
My grandma’s gift of a camera unknowingly launched me into this photo career. I’m starting to think she manifested it for me—calling that gift an “investment” from the start. My first portraits were of my family on vacation in Rocky Mountain National Park, in the summer of 2015. A couple months later, home on my first school break in Cottleville, Missouri, I made some of my earliest “artsy” portraits of my little brother. From the beginning, family has been the root of my photography journey.
As my skills grew and I started working in-house at KREWE, Artifact Uprising, and Backcountry, I weirdly got nervous about photographing my family. Part of it, I think, was that this career was so foreign to all of us—we didn’t really know how to talk about it. We’d lived 8-hour-drive distances away from each other for most of my career, and phone calls can only explain so much.
A phone call with my mom in 2022, the weekend before I started at Backcountry, went something like this: “Hey Mom, uh, I just got an email that I’m not going into the office for orientation. They sent me a studio address and told me to bring my camera gear—I’m photographing BTS of Shaun White for his brand launch.” She responded, “Like Shaun White the redhead snowboard guy? And what’s ‘b-t-s’ mean?”
In 2017, my little brother was young enough that one of my photos scared him into unfollowing me on Instagram, and I don’t think he’s ever followed me back since. (He doesnt). Brothers, am I right? lol
Somewhere along the way, I’d gotten shy about capturing the people I care about most. In 2023, nearly a year into my time at Backcountry at that point, my mom came to visit me in Park City. We took a little roadtrip down to Torrey, UT and explored Capital Reef. The trip was a perfect warm-up that gave me the courage to photograph my mom again, but “for real” this time.
After our venture south, back in Park City, I set up a backdrop in my' mom’s hotel room, clipped to the curtains on one side and a TV corner on the other. I had only my film camera and a 50mm lens, my back against the wall to frame everything just right in the tiny space. My mom’s a stylin’ lady, so wardrobe was a no-brainer: we chose her airport outfit—a cool Adidas track set that I swear only my mom can rock. The experience was so familiar to me; a small room of women giggling, feeling awkward, brainstorming poses and asking, “Wait—what do I do with my face?” The shoot lasted maybe 15 minutes, but I think that’s all we needed.
Shot on my Nikon f100 and Kodak Portra 400.
Developed and scanned by Essential Photo Supply.
Background by Ultraviolet Backdrops
Another wonderful story, Molly. PS Your Mom is beautiful. Wink😉😘