Today we’d like to introduce you to Abby Stanford.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Abby. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Photography showed up in my life when I was going through a lot of changes and I was trying to figure out the next step in my life. I had just recently quit playing softball which was something I had been doing since I was 5 years old, it was now junior year of high school and I was completely changing my life plan. There was an old Canon camera laying around my house and I eventually just taking it with me wherever you go. Now, at this point, I certainly did not consider myself a photographer but it was nice to have something to occupy all the free time I now had.
Eventually, I fell so in love with the feeling of capturing a moment and having it forever that I decided I wanted to make it a full time career. I had no idea how I was going to do that or in what field of photography I wanted to go into, but I knew I had to do this for the rest of my life.
I started photographing concerts here and there whenever I could get a photo pass and things were going fairly well for someone just starting out. I realized that concert photography could be a legitimate profession for me. I had always loved live music and the live music industry, but I didn’t ever really think I could be a part of it. After I graduated high school, that’s when things really started to pick up. I went to UNT for a year and I was studying PR/Marketing because I wanted to try and approach photography in a way that I thought was safe. About half way through my freshman year at UNT, I met the band that really changed everything.
I met Northern National at a show at House of Blues in November of 2016. After doing four shows with them in the span of a week and spending some time in the studio with them, they insisted I continue to work with them. Fast forward to now and I have worked countless shows with them, experienced my first tour because of them, and made so many great connections between them. Since that first night in 2016, I have been promoted from just their photographer to their merch girl, their tour manager, and basically just their “band mom” as they call me.
The same night I met them, I also met the founder of Music Why Not, Maria Limon. She told me to get in contact with her if I ever wanted to work shows for her publication, and that was the start of a beautiful friendship. Since meeting her that night I have been to photograph some shows that I never in a million years would’ve expected to shoot.
I have put in a lot of time, money, and miles into my craft. It’s not always pretty and you don’t always get the best shots, and you get a lot of rejection, but concert photography has been something that has made more confident, brought me so many incredible memories, and has truly opened up some incredible doors for me.
Has it been a smooth road?
Working in the music industry as a woman definitely has its ups and downs. I have been turned down multiple gigs that I have been extremely qualified for, simply because I am a woman. Wanting to work in a profession that requires you to live on a bus or van for weeks at a time also requires finding people willing to take a chance on you, and I have found that a lot of men aren’t willing to do that no matter how talented you may be.
My advice to any young woman wanting to work as a concert photographer is to just be persistent. You are going to get turned down so many times, and it’s going to hurt and you may have points where you want to give up, but there will be that band or that artist that will believe in you so wholeheartedly and all those rejections will be worth it.
I was lucky enough to find a band that believes in my so fully they continued to add on to my job description, they took me on a month long van tour, and have accepted me as a family. They don’t treat me any different because I’m a woman and I love that.
You have to believe in your craft and know that even when you get turned down, there is something better that will come along. I have had a lot of hard times with this industry, but it is also the thing that brings me the most joy.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your business – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My work is photography, but I work mostly with concerts and live events. As much as I love portraits and weddings, concerts are just the most unique experience to get to work with as a photographer. Each show, no matter if you’re on a month long tour seeing the same show 17 times, has its own atmosphere and its own culture.
The thing that I’m most proud of as a concert photographer is the fact that I have accomplished so much in such a short time. At 20 years old, I have already been on tour, I work for 3 different publications, and I have photographed so many artists that most people only dream of working with.
Something I think that sets me apart in my profession is that I really make an effort to befriend the artists and I work really hard to make sure they know who I am when they see me. I also try my best to befriend venue staff and security guards. I have been giving so many amazing opportunities simply because I take the time to be nice to people. I know a lot of photographers who shoot their 3 songs from the pit and then leave and never interact with venue staff or the artist or even the fans! I have actually booked some gigs just from talking to people on the barricade at shows. Genuine human interaction goes a long way in this industry.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
In my industry specifically, I definitely feel like the inability for men to get over their pride or their “freedom” is a huge issue. Like I said earlier when touring you have to live in a van or a bus with these people for weeks on end and some men don’t like the idea of a woman being on the bus. This is a very frustrating idea because of its implications. When I hear someone say that it gives me the impression that they believe women will bring this negative experience onto the bus or “cramp their style.”
Something I always find interesting is looking at end of tour “family photos” and see how many women are on a crew for a tour. It has been so disheartening to me see that still in 2018 we so many HUGE tours that go out on the road and won’t have a single woman on the tour.
While I know that women cannot just be handed jobs because they’re women, I know so many female photographers who were turned down jobs and then the photographers that were taken on the road were not as qualified, but they were men.
My hope is that in our generation, as women, we find a way to break through this idea that women can’t or shouldn’t tour.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://abbystanford.com/
- Phone: 940-453-1780
- Email: astanford15@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbystanfordx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abbystanfordphotography
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/abbystanfordx
Image Credit:
Abby Stanford
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