Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Loubriel.
Hi Jackie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
From disposable cameras full of film showing landscapes from my backseat view of the world as a kid to products like a Dr. Pepper can, my teddy bear on the reverse side of my blanket for a white background, or the hundreds of angles of my dog, Sissy; I didn’t know at the time, but that was when my lifelong passion of photography began to develop. (Pun intended, sorry, I’ll stop now!)
Fast forward to now, freelancing photography full time and just opened my own studio in the historic Expo Park of South Dallas, called Studio Retro, between the beloved Deep Ellum and famous Fair Park. I also love that it’s right across the street from female-owned Jane Doe Tattoo, as well as also Funk Flow Yoga.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This studio opening has been a distant dream of mine ever since I first walked the streets of Deep Ellum during a Photo 101 class at the Art Institute of Dallas in 2012, when I was 17 and preparing to start my Senior year in Oklahoma City.
At the time, I could not have imagined that I would soon be accepted into Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, TX. That move changed the course of my life.
My parents were both incarcerated from the time I was age eight to 13-years-old. After my mom’s release, my estranged father had two more years before his release in 2010.
When my mom passed the following year from a long battle with cancer on New Year’s Eve of 2011, the home we shared in OKC felt like an empty shell. Her death shattered the stability she had built, and my stepdad relapsed into addiction. That was when I knew I had to remove myself from the situation.
After losing my mom, I spent time living with friends before deciding to pack up and move in with my aunt, Martha King, in Dallas, TX. She and my mom’s eldest sister, Brenda Priest, became guiding lights who helped keep me from drifting in a very different direction at such a vulnerable time. Looking back now, 13 years later, it still feels surreal. I remember how terrified I was of the unknown back then and of what my future would look like.
In the middle of all that pain, I realized that I could not control what happened to me, but I could control how I responded. That mindset has carried me through the hardest days and keeps me moving forward, because there is still so much I want to build and accomplish in this brief, fleeting lifetime we have on this Earth.
Those early years taught me how fragile life is. That is why I feel so deeply about the work I do today, because photography gives me a way to honor and preserve life as it happens. Every image I capture is a reminder of how precious it is to be here at all.
Now, with having a studio space, I love being able to offer somewhere for other photographers to have a place to capture those fleeting moments with their clients, as well as using the space for my own work as well.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Jackie Marie Photography is my photography business that technically started in 2012, but more officially in 2013-14, where I began specializing in capturing personal-portraits and milestones.
After working more for small businesses and brands, I started a second photography branch or “sister brand” called Jackie Stills & Films, geared more toward commercial content and marketing for businesses and vacation-rental properties that I frequently shoot photo/video content in Broken Bow, Carlton Landing and beyond.
Just this year, in 2025, I opened Studio Retro, a funky, mid-century decorated photography studio in an industrial loft, built in 1929, in Dallas, TX. It is open for hourly or half-day space rental for photographers and creatives, and when it’s not booked for other’s shoots, I use it for my own practice as well.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think perseverance, discipline, reputation and tenacity have been the biggest key points that has helped me create what I would consider a successful business. It came from a LOT of trial-and-error attempts, however, before realizing what was working and didn’t work, but being more than a decade into it now, I feel those are the most important characteristics I’ve needed and continuously worked on to get to where I’m at today.
Pricing:
- Studio Retro: $75/hour
- Jackie Marie Photography: Starting at $375 for a half-hour portrait session
- Jackie Stills & Films: Starting at $375 for half-hour branding session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jackiemariephoto.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackiemariephotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jackiemariephotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackquelynloubriel/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jackiestillsandfilms
- Other: https://www.studioretrodallas.com/
Image Credits
Jackie Loubriel / Jackie Marie Photography
