Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Malsick.
Chloe, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
This is a tricky one to answer because so many aspects of my life have led me to where I am now. I had no strong, sudden calling to be a photographer. I didn’t grow up knowing that’s what I wanted to do with my life. In high school, I took the two photography classes my school offered. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in school, and these were the two classes where I could express myself and not have to worry about grades. In the middle of my freshman year, I was diagnosed with depression. I started seeing a therapist, but I was never good with communicating my feelings verbally. I was, and still am, a storyteller, so I would write and take pictures; Photography was my escape.
Then, during my junior year, all the years of internal pressure and struggling with my depression caught up to me, and I broke down. All four years of high school were really dark for me, and that social stigma of feeling like I couldn’t talk about what was going through my head made everything worse. As hard as those years of high school were though, they are such an important part of my story today because I’ve made it part of my mission to talk about mental health and integrate it into my business to make it less of a stigma.
After graduating high school last year, I took a gap year hoping to find myself. But it turned out, I was never lost. Throughout all this time I had still been photographing, and during my senior year I started to take senior pictures of friends. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to have amazing friends and family who supported me through everything, and they were the ones who cheered me on and told me I had an eye for this.
Then, during the summer last year, my family and I took a road trip out to California, and that trip made me realize how beautiful this world really is. I vividly remember watching as a photographer took portraits of a bride and groom with one of the most stunning sunsets I had ever seen in the background, and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a photographer. I wanted to capture the joy and beauty of this world around us, so when we got home I reached out to local wedding photographers and began assisting & learning from them.
And now, I’ve fallen in love with photographing love and happiness, and creating lifelong memories for two madly in love people. I’ve attended workshops and took classes and went way out of my comfort zone to meet people and make connections, and I’m still just getting started.
Great, 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?
Definitely not. Ironically, one of my biggest obstacles was myself. I held myself back, I honestly didn’t think I had what it takes to be a photographer. I made so many excuses as to why I could never own my own photography business: I wasn’t creative enough. I wasn’t outgoing enough. I wasn’t old enough. I wasn’t smart enough. I wasn’t talented enough. I was constantly putting myself down and comparing myself to others who were older and more experienced than me.
At first, the thought of taking a path that no one else I knew was taking was terrifying. I felt like it would just be easier to go to college and follow the conventional road. But I knew in my heart that wasn’t what would make me happy, and I had to take a leap of faith that I could do this. There’s no easy formula for creating a business, it’s all about trial and error and learning from mistakes. Building this business also required building my confidence in myself and my abilities, and teaching myself to be more outgoing and reach out to and meet other photographers to collaborate and learn from. The classes and workshops that I have taken were all immensely valuable, but in the end the only way I will really grow my business is by falling down a few times and having the strength to keep getting back up.
Please tell us about Chloe Malsick Photography.
I offer senior portraits, family portraits, and engagements, but I specialize in weddings. I have a light and airy style and I love capturing love and joy. I have a photojournalistic approach to capture those candid, raw emotions and connections. I want to capture that love and joy to encourage others and, most importantly, capture these memories for my couples to have and look and smile at when times are tough, or to show their future kids how in love their parents were & are. But my business is about so much more than just photography. I’m most proud of entering other’s lives by being vulnerable and sharing stories about my past with depression that most people don’t talk about. All the years of being in darkness has made me appreciate the light so much more, and being able to capture those precious moments of joy is what lights my fire and makes me most happy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chloemalsick.com/
- Email: info@chloemalsick.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloe.malsick/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloemalsickphotography/
Image Credit:
Headshot – Alyssa Parker Photography
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