A Holistic Portfolio is Born

Apologies if you felt a breath of air come from your screen after landing on this website. That was just me blowing off some lint after rubbing in the final polish on what is a brand new website for me.

I began my career in Washington, DC, where I worked primarily as a freelance director of photography. I shot a ton of VIP interviews and content for documentaries and broadcast television. It was fun and rewarding, but after 10 years I wasn’t feeling as challenged as consistently as I would have liked. I wanted more opportunities where I could lead the creative vision on projects I worked on. That desire had led me to seeking out directing and still photography opportunities. But as long as the phone kept ringing for DP jobs, I knew I would continue to do that work and have little time to nurture the evolution I knew needed to happen.

So I left.

Three weeks later I arrived in Denver, a place where I had lived until 16 when my dad got a job in Seattle. Since I had left, Denver had become a highly desirable place to live and one of the fastest growing cities in the country, which meant it was attracting a lot of talent, including in the arts, and I wanted to be a part of that.

It also is, most definitely, not the market DC is. Since arriving I have been forced to develop and refine my skills in directing, photography, and video editing — which was all part of the plan. But it created a new challenge.

After five years I had created a situation in which I had multiple professional identities, each with its own dedicated website. It led me to feeling splintered and overwhelmed, as well as grieving for my whole authentic self, which felt like something I had to hide. I yearned for a way to combine all my professional identities into one.

I needed to evolve, again.

I knew that the vision I had worked hard to develop would be the starting point for the next step in my professional evolution, but I was going to need outside help to see, nurture, and market it.

So I reached out to a highly respected photo consultant. Over the past several months, we have worked together to develop my creative vision and build a presentation that showcases all of my professional creative skills within a single portfolio. Most importantly, she has helped me to identify appropriate markets and I’ve added more visual value that I can now offer to prospective clients.

For the first time in my career, I feel like I have found my home and the place where I am meant to be. I’m excited for the possibilities ahead and the opportunities to help present and future clients achieve their goals.

Below are a few of my favorite selections from my new still and motion portfolio, which I am calling GritzArts. Take a look and I hope you are as excited as I am!

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