I still remember the first photo I ever captured—a black and white 35mm shot of my childhood cat, taken with a camera loaned from my mother’s best friend. As a teenager, I spent time in the darkroom developing it and felt an instant sense that this was something I wanted to do forever. It was an unexpected, calming notion that took over a decade to develop into a full-time career. Looking back it seemed an obvious course to pursue the arts, but as we know, Hindsight is 20/20.
When I graduated from school in Australia in the mid-2000s, I came from a pre-social media era where “you can’t make money in the arts” was a widely discussed topic for my generation. The term “influencer” hadn’t been coined yet, and the world of travel photography was mostly reserved for those working with magazines and travel TV series—industries typically not open to females at the time. So, I did what most young adults are told to do: I enrolled in classes to follow a more traditional career path in marine biology.
From the Chem Lab to the Design Table
After a few chemistry classes, I was pulled aside and told to reconsider my career options—this was a different time back then. I didn’t know it at the time, but my difficulty with chemistry was due to dyslexia, which meant I processed things differently. I dropped out and returned to the arts, back into the darkroom, fuelling my ever-growing photography obsession.
After school, I decided to study fashion design. I found myself loving photographing the final results more than designing the garments themselves. However, it still wasn’t clear to me that photography was the only constant in my formative years.
The Real World, as Told by Others
After studying fashion design, I decided to get a “real job” and ended up in a slew of corporate roles. Primarily as a subcontractor for the Australian Government. Surprisingly, I loved my job and the career trajectory I was on as a project officer. Living in Melbourne, I was surrounded by arts and culture. Every corner offered something new to discover with a camera in hand. I was happy working my 9-5 and documenting life on weekends or after work—always with a camera in hand. Though I still was unable to see I would eventually pursue the arts.
By this time, I had moved from Flickr to Tumblr, and on Tumblr. I was no longer sharing under an alias but sharing my photography under my own name (gulp!). I experimented with all genres. From documentary-style photography and street photography to weddings, high-end fashion, and car photography, enthralled by it all. Then, one day, everything changed. Seemingly overnight, and for reasons outside my control, my 9-5 role no longer existed.
Good Advice is Never Too Late
Back to the drawing board. Who was I? What did I want to do?
I did what any young adult might do: I called my now-late mother. I will never forget her words when I told her that I thought I might finally pursue a photography career. She Said, “Melissa, it’s about time! I’ve been waiting for this call!”
A decade after that first film camera was placed in my hands, I knew what I wished I had known in school. You can be brave enough to pursue the arts, and it can change your life.
