Today we’d like to introduce you to Tammy Klepac.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
A little fate and a whole bunch of luck played a part in my story. I’m the daughter of a very talented artist. Not only is my father an amazing art teacher but he is a professional silversmith, sculptor, and painter. I hope that some of his artistic talent was passed along to me.
When I was a child, my mother bought a camera – the old school kind, that used film and had NO automatic settings. Back then you HAD to know the Holy Trinity of Photography – aperture, shutter speed, and ISO! My mother took a photography course at the local community college and eventually built a darkroom within a bathroom of our home. At about ten years of age, I learned to develop film and use the enlarger to make prints. I even demonstrated film development in every speech class I took in school.
It was the constant need to create something that caused me to get sidetracked from my studies in education. The Web/Internet was a new medium that interested me, so I taught myself HTML and graphic design. I started my own business creating and hosting websites for business of all sizes. Not only did I have clients from all over Texas but from Belize to New Zealand, as well!
My business allowed me the time to go back to school, complete my Bachelors of Education and I began teaching at the elementary level. So, flash forward a few years and that drive to create something returned! I grabbed my camera, snapped a few photos, used them to create a composite, and I was hooked! Today, that first composite is still one of my favorite images!
Please tell us about your art.
I’ve been told that I should specialize in one “type” of photography, but when I’m having this much fun, well, I just can’t do that….at least not yet. So basically I’m all over the place. I’ve photographed stills for a movie production, landscapes, events & galas, portraits, and weddings, which are my absolute favorite because I enjoy being part of a couple’s big day!
Whether it is a landscape composite or a portrait of a high school senior, I want to capture the beauty in everything, that I see, and preserve it for others to see. When someone views my photographs, I hope they feel what I felt when I saw that subject through my camera lens. My motto or slogan has become very simple: Today’s photographs, tomorrow’s memories.
What do you think about the conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
In a way, I feel that conditions for artists today have become easier than in past years. Today, most artists have social media pages, websites or even blogs where the artist can display and even sell their work to a greater number of individuals than in the past. I remember my father and his artistic friends having to mail (postal) photos or even negatives of artwork to galleries or shows and then that work only being seen by a select group of individuals in a select physical location. Now, an artist can have their work viewed globally at the push of a button.
Cities like ours (DFW) have always seen the value of artists, but I feel more so today than in the past. I know that leaders, in the area in which I live, support artists by giving them opportunities to display their art in pop-up galleries, museums, city websites, and public spaces. Its really up to the artist to look for and take advantage of these opportunities.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Of course, I have a website, blog and all the social media pages like any other artist. You may see, but not recognize, some of my work in Getty as I’m an exclusive contributor. You may also see my work hanging in one of the local town halls or events put on by some of the photographic communities to which I belong. I recently won an award from Two Bright Lights, which is a hub for publishers, for the quality of the work in the engagement and wedding albums I get published in magazines. Some of these magazines include Wedding Wire, Zola, Tacari Weddings and How He Asked by the Knot.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tammyklepacphotography.com
- Phone: 817-371-8418
- Email: info@tammyklepacphotography.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tammyklepacphotography
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/tammyklepacphotography
- Other: http://tammyklepacphotography.blogspot.com/
Image Credit:
Tammy Klepac Photography
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