Art & Life with Amanda Grenier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Grenier.

Amanda, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
In 2009, I had just graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in Photography from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. I was a burnt out 21-year-old, with thousands of dollars in student loans, who had just spent years learning everything that is “wrong” with my photos. I could pick apart everything I was doing wrong to the point where I didn’t like a single picture I was taking. However, there was no time to sit back and try and figure out “what I was going to do”. I needed to find a job to start paying off all the student loans I had just racked up! I wanted nothing to do with a camera anymore because the art and creativity had just been sucked right out of me.

I was offered a position as a start-up mortgage consultant in Rhode Island, so I took it and moved back to New England! I was there for about a year, working with short sales and foreclosures during the big housing plummet. When the company downsized, I was laid off and again wondering how I could pay back my student loans. I spent the summer getting very tan and trying to figure out where I should go to get my life back on track. I ended up changing my career back to photography and using my new housing information to buy my first home at 23 years old in Worcester, MA. This was when I first learned that life may lead you a stray, and make things hard on you for a reason!

I became a product photographer for Rhode Island Novelty and Planetshoes.com. It was not where I wanted to be forever but at the time it got a camera back in my hands and got me back to shooting. Since then, I haven’t looked back! I started with portraits of families and weddings. Later, I would add boudoir photography on nights and weekends when I wasn’t working. Then as things began to grow in my own business, I went full time with just my business!

Today, I own and operate Black Book Studio, a luxury boudoir and portrait studio. Our studio is located in Clinton, MA. I also photograph professional portraits, headshots and fitness photography. All while still operating my other photo business, Photography by Amanda Morgan, where I still photograph around 25 weddings per year as well!

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a boudoir photographer, that uses light and posing, to make women see the beauty in themselves that they may not always see or feel. Light and posing are my tools, and women are my canvas. I let the light do the painting and posing to accentuate all their best assets! Every woman is unique, and using each woman to create something new and beautiful is my dream! I have met, laughed, and even cried with women who have the hardest time visualizing themselves as beautiful or sexy. The more people I meet, the more I fall in love with this side of photography. It’s become more than just a job, more than just taking photos. The photos mean something and that was worth more than I could have ever imagined.

I understand women, sympathize with them, but most of all, I’m inspired by them! Every woman is unique. They are all shapes and sizes with their own stories and their beautiful strong bodies have carried them through all of that. But what I have learned is that everyone has the right to celebrate what they have been through and feel like they are worth so much more. Our society is rough, and at some point, it has become okay to stop complimenting people just because. So, for some women these sessions start out as a gift for a significant other but they turn into a celebration for themselves!

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
As an artist, I define success by when people trust in me and my skill as a photographer to capture their most vulnerable side! Success isn’t measured by completing one shoot and moving on to the next. It’s by making each woman smile, shed a tear, or say “Oh my god” to images of them. That’s where I find success.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can see my work on Facebook, Instagram and my website. If you would like to support my work, book a session with me and see what it is all about!

Contact Info:

• Address: 470 Main street, Clinton MA
• Website: blackbookstudio.com
• Phone: 4015809398
• Email: info@photographybyamandamorgan.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/myintimateblackbook
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.morgan.photo
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlackBooksVIPs/

Image Credit:
Black Book Studio

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