Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy McLaughlin.
Hi Amy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ll be really honest: I’ve always wanted to stand out. I’m not sure if that is connected to growing up in a large family or more deeply rooted in my own personality and the way I sought to understand my identity. Either way, it created in me this drive to both measure up to everyone’s expectations and to carve my life into something truly meaningful and unique. Practically, it meant I was a straight A, rule-following, high-performing people pleaser who had no idea what I really wanted and none of my aspirations seemed good enough. I changed my major every year in college because my interests were too vast and I couldn’t find where I fit.
I met my husband at Baylor, and true to the stereotype, I had a “ring by spring.” We were engaged by the spring of our senior year and married six months later. Fast forward and I’m a mom of four young children at the age of 32! And let me just say, as a stay at home mom with lots of kids, “meaningful and unique” were not words I used to describe my life. Children are fun and fascinating, but your own children can also hold up mirrors that show you parts of yourself you’d rather not see, the parts you have spent a lifetime attempting to hide (like the temper tantrum of a toddler that reveals that I idolize control and care far too much about presenting my best self to the world). So as a young mom, my own self-evaluation would have included words like: impatient, uninspiring, forgetful, ordinary, boring, and oh so tired. But children also have a way of changing our perspectives if we let them. What once I held on to, I’ve learned to let go. What once I valued highly, I’ve found to be deficient. I’ve always been a perfectionist, but parenthood shows me perfection is unattainable. My kids show me how much presence, curiosity, and courage can be enough.
Oddly enough, this is how I fell in love with photography. I wanted proof that the story I told myself about my life wasn’t always a true narrative. I needed a way to make sense of how the ordinary could be beautiful. It wasn’t necessarily about the picture, it was about the story, and the story is what mattered. As I began photographing my own family, what once felt uninspiring was now quite stunning. And this is what I wanted specifically for other moms. I wanted to be able to document their ordinary life with their children, to show them a unique perspective and tell a different narrative than maybe the one they tell themselves. I wanted to show them the beauty in their own story. So here I am now, not wanting to take trendy photographs of your people looking their best in a gorgeous sunset, but wanting to take photographs that show who you really are and why your family’s story is unique, meaningful, and absolutely stunning. I want to give you something that will have deep meaning to you in 20 years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Building a business is hard. There are people all over social media platforms selling their process to starting and growing a thriving business, and it’s tempting to believe there is an easy way and a right way. The bottom line for me was that what I was trying to sell was actually a tough sell. I didn’t come up with Documentary Family Photography. I’m not that brilliant. It’s actually quite popular in other countries, but in America, we really like our life curated. I still hear a lot of moms say, “You don’t want to spend a day in our chaos!” Oh, but I do. And convincing families of the value of Day in the Life Photographs is more challenging than I expected.
But it’s beginning to catch on! I think deep down, people really do want more than just a pretty picture.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in telling stories with images. Real, honest stories. I spend anywhere from 2-12 hours with families as they go about their day. It’s not what you imagine when you think of scheduling a photography session. It’s more like having a friend spend the day with you, and she happens to have brought her camera. We talk. I listen. We play. I notice. And all the while, I capture pictures and video as life plays out naturally around me. I then have the privilege of delivering galleries full of photographs that show what your family is like together so that you can remember those ordinary days that shaped who you are, or sometimes even delivering cinematic family films that are like home videos on steroids.
I am most proud of my work because I think one day, the photographs I deliver to families will be tiny catalysts that spark memories, insights, understanding, revelations, and meaningful emotion in people as they make sense of their own story.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I used to see myself as the play-it-safe girl, but I’ve come to realize that because the way I view and understand the world is built on the life of Jesus, I actually seek out risks because risks have a way of emptying us of ourselves and our ability to manipulate, control, and order our lives perfectly. In my own experience, and through engaging my own story, I have come to see that the seasons of my life that I have felt most alive and satisfied have been when I’ve run out of ways to rely on myself. Risk may be scary, but it usually puts me in a place of need that pushes me into deeper relationships with people. And it’s in these relationships with people that I have found more wholeness, again and again.
Contact Info:
- Email: amy@mclaughlincreativ.com
- Website: www.mclaughlincreativ.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mclaughlincreativ
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amymclaughlinphotography
Image Credits:
Feature Photo of me: Kathryn Krueger Photography The rest are mine.
