I am a children’s photographer. My specialty is providing children’s and family portraits for younger children, newborn through kindergarten. What I do is essential to my customers, my employees, the many businesses that supply the goods and services my business uses and, of course, to me and my family. Without what I do, many others would be deprived of what I provide and lose the benefits of providing what I need. This makes everyone wealthier and healthier. Happy, economically well-off people live longer. That should make me and my business essential.
This can be said of all businesses and consumers within an economy. What every business does impacts the lives of others around the world in beneficial ways and in ways that no one can know. None of us is unimportant. All productive people have a positive impact on the global community in ways that no one can know and no man, committee or Senate can plan. (That is pretty much straight from Adam Smith. It has been claimed that Scotsman revolutionized our understanding of humanity in 1776.)
None of my customers will starve or freeze if they do not have my portraits, but many of my portraits have become prized possessions, heirlooms that are passed on for generations. ( I have been doing it that long.) I provide pleasure to my clients. I improve their lives. My subjects enjoy the experience. Happy people live longer. Ask any doctor.
But most of all, what I do is essential to me, to my well-being. It is not just what I do, it is who I am. If you have watched me work you may be able to understand. Check out my YouTube channel. Go to YouTube and type Children’s Portraiture in the search box or my name. You can also use this link.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuTaSun1drjo5JBsh989TYg
Watch a few videos of me interacting with the children.
In the middle of a normal April I am starting to get physically worn down, but I am emotionally charged. At the end of a longer day I may be physically drained but my emotional state is great. No need to go to the gym or a mental health counselor.
This year is different. It has been one month since I photographed my last sitting and a little longer than that since my last child care center of more than a few children. I am just now beginning to realize how important what I do is to me.
Yes, what I do is essential. It is essential to me. I am certain that many others can say the same.
The portrait of me that accompanies this post was done by Julie Leiseth, a young photographer I work with.