Alison is a special person. A very special person. She is the kind of person that inspires you to be better, to give more and to challenge yourself just by the way she lives her life, even when you meet her just once. That is how I felt when I left our lunch; I was inspired to be better. I contacted her after I saw her incredible photos from the Make a Wish gala this past year where I helped with the décor and set up. I wanted to know more about her. I know that people that donate their time to capture the moments of evenings like that where bound to be wonderful people; Alison is way more than that. Her philosophy on photographs is not only to capture amazing images, but to capture amazing images of people’s lives so they can hold on to that moment forever. That is how she views every session she captures – an opportunity to give the family a piece of that moment in their lives.
And she often does this for people who do not have much time left in this world. She shared with me some inspiring stories where she would come to someone’s home in the last weeks of their life to be a fly on the wall and just capture those every day moments that make life so special. She wanted them to be able to see the laughs, the tears, the joy and the life in these moments. Alison captures life in photographs and looks at her position as a photographer as privileged because she gets to give these irreplaceable and ever fleeting moments to people to hold on to forever. This makes her special, not only as a person, but as an artist. I truly understand why people want people like Alison capturing your life in those moments. It is because she thinks of this not as a job, but as a privilege to do so. Thank you Alison for capturing the lives of those around us – we are lucky you are here!
Introducing Alison Lea Photography…..
If you could define your style in 3 words, what would they be?
Real. Artistic. Simple.
Tell me about you and your talented team – what makes you fabulous?
Two main things set me apart from many photographers:
1) I was an Art Education major, so people and relationships are my top priority and also why I love my job so much.
2) I am an artist who became a business person, rather than a business person who decided to go into photography. The reason I do what I do is because I love art and capturing who people are. With my Art History background and travel experiences, I bring a fresh perspective.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Relationships and Art History. I don’t look much at bridal magazines or even wedding photographer blogs…I go to museums, travel around the world and look at Art. Then I get to know my clients.
If you could photograph someone famous – dead or alive- who would it be and where you would choose to photograph them?
I wish that I would have photographed my grandparents in their everyday life, when they were still alive. Now, I do this a lot – photograph people and their families candidly in the last days and week of their lives. It would be wonderful to have candid photographs of my own family.
What's the best event that you have ever photographed?
I love that weddings are always different and that usually there are tons of people who are all having a great time. When people are laughing and enjoying themselves, it’s fun to capture the event.
The other favorite session I’ve done is a family where the dad has ALS and I went to their home weekly for the last 6 weeks of his life. I was a fly on the wall and just took pictures of the moments they shared together. It wasn’t about fancy details of an event, but really, truly, about relationship.
What is a fun trend that you are seeing now?
Etsy.com – LOVE IT! Nothing is the same and it’s all about details!
