THE INDEX

When I was five, my mom would take me to the local library where I would look through endless books on weather and the stars because I dreamt of photographing them one day. As I grew older I started to see being a photographer as something you do just for fun. I don't know, maybe it was the fact that my dad was super cerebral and didn't view being an artist as something you could raise a family off of. Maybe it was because at the time most did live up to old stereotype of the "starving artist." Maybe I was just scared. Whatever the reason, I decided to let go of my dreams to be a photographer and instead pursue a career as a pediatric reconstructive surgeon instead. It felt safe. It felt like the thing I should do.

At the end of college, I would say that I really did have a genuine love for the service of health care. But sitting in an MCAT prep class one night a wave of nausea hit me as I suddenly began to envision a reality of going to medical school for the next 12 years... I didn't want to give my life to do the thing I should do! I wanted to spend my life doing the thing I wanted to do.

So I got up, walked out and never looked back. 

Mother, photograhper, Educator

Suzy

xoxo,

MORE ABOUT ME

Because what I love most is getting to work with people from all walks of life. Being invited into peoples' homes and intimate spaces, I am continually reminded that everyone is so different. Everyone has different lived experiences and ultimately different priorities. Everyone has different ways of parenting their children or communicating with their partner.  That patience, compassion and empathy are such important core values. And there is nothing that inspires me more.

After giving up medical school I decided to get my Masters in Public Health while I figured out what to do next. I specialized in Maternal/Child Health and became a trained doula while writing my capstone thesis on the efficacy of doula support in childbirth. While working with my doula clients they started asking me if I could take pictures of their birth or of their family and somehow that evolved into Simply by Suzy Photography. Over the past 14 years, I've worked with national and global companies such as Medela and Monica + Andy, to help them create imagery that speaks to mothers and families. I've also had the pleasure of working with over 1200 families.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

my motto:

One of the many reasons I love photography, is that it is just so powerful. It can be so much more than just beautiful photos to hang on your wall. It can be a window into realizations about your life or a doorway to a deeper connection with yourself or the people you love most...

Like, when I was younger. I really struggled with my self confidence.So much so that I refused to leave the house without a full face of make up on because I *literally* couldn't handle the idea of someone seeing my bare face (which is hard to even admit).

As I grew older, I learned to feel comfortable in my own skin though I still never considered myself to be beautiful. And for a very long time I thought I learned self love simply because my face was something I had come to accept. After my daughter was born, everyone aaaalwaaaays told me how much she looked like me. I remember one day I was looking at pictures of her and I, and I totally saw the resemblance. But in a different way than I had ever before. I marveled at how beautiful she was as I often did, but I literally laughed out loud as the realization suddenly hit me how much we really did look alike. I thought to myself, if she's beautiful, I must be beautiful too!

I just had never allowed myself to see it before.

It took seeing a photograph of myself next to my daughter to connect the dots that I deserved to love myself as much as I loved her. 

Adventure is the cure for anything that ails you, but it's somehow also true that there's no place like home with the one you love.

A story about finding a deeper connection to myself through photography

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Do you want to start taking pictures of your family that are beautiful, authentic and real? Do you want the time that your camera comes out at home to be something that's special and fun for everyone in your family? After photographing families for over 10 years, I've learned that the real secret to getting the most beautiful pictures of your family starts with being deeply connected to them. So I've put together this FREE 5-Day Challenge to help get you more connected and start taking the most incredible pictures of your family.

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