So, what is all this?

Emotional Alchemy Photography is a revival of an old hobby but with new-found passion and purpose.

When I was around sixteen years old, I started a photography page on Instagram. At the time, I just liked taking photos and was told that I was good at it. I kept it up for a while, but eventually it faded out. I’m twenty-two now and my life has moved in a very different direction than I anticipated back then. So, what is all this? Why did I come back to photography? Why did I go so far as to build an entire website on top of managing photography accounts on two social media platforms? What changed?

Frankly, I need a job. I’m going to university in the fall and I need to pay my bills. However, this is so much more than that. I mean, I’m spending a lot more on equipment and a domain than I’m making from this (which is $0, to be clear). My original goal in all of this was just to have an online portfolio that I could show when applying for other jobs. So, how does all of this help me get a job? Let me tell you.

A popular piercer and content creator that I follow, Lynn Loheide, put out a YouTube video recently titled, Looking for a Piercing Apprenticeship? Social Media may be the Ticket. In their video, Lynn talked about a couple of key skills that piercing shops frequently look for when hiring someone for a front-of-house (FOH) job, which can often lead to an apprenticeship. Lynn also mentioned that FOH has started to become more of its own thing rather than just a stepping-stone to an apprenticeship. After all, you do need to have a specific set of skills and knowledge to be a good FOH employee, even if you don’t perform piercings. Those can include things like jewellery curation, answering piercing-related questions, answering phones, making appointments, etc., but they also include photography and social media management.

Social media has become one of the best forms of advertising and marketing today, especially for smaller businesses. Having a solid social media presence is one of the best things a piercing shop can do for its business, but not all piercers have the time to keep up with it. That is where the FOH comes in. Aside from general reception/front desk duties, the FOH staff may also be responsible for running the shop’s social media page(s), posting about different promotions, new jewellery, and photos of fresh (and healed!) piercings. Enter photography. The FOH may be the one to take a picture of the new addition to your bodily decor to post on social media along with photos of the new jewellery in stock at the shop. Macro photography specifically is a really important skill to have when photographing such small, detailed, and delicate pieces to showcase them in all of their glory.

Piercings, tattoos, and body modifications in general are of particular interest to me and the industry is really intriguing. I don’t necessarily want to be a piercer or tattoo artist, but I enjoy the environment and vibe of the industry and would love to work in it in some capacity. Considering I had prior experience and interest in photography, Lynn’s video was really motivating and gave me a sense of direction and a place to start to pursue this kind of career. My biggest takeaway from Lynn’s video was essentially, “Here are skills you can develop on your own that can help get you into the industry.” As someone who’s actively job hunting, it’s really hard to even get an interview because everyone wants someone with prior experience in exactly that field. I’ve been applying to retail jobs, but all of my experience is in healthcare. How am I supposed to get retail experience if nobody will hire me for a retail job? This, however, was something I could do for myself, by myself, that would help give me relevant and necessary experience to actually have a chance of getting a job in the industry. It was game-changing.

Photography alone is not a viable career for me right now as it costs a lot of money just to buy a proper camera, let alone special lenses, a P.O. box to use as a business address for an online shop, order samples of prints, and so on. Also, running a business is really hard and I don’t have the time, energy, knowledge, or finances to make that happen as a broke, disabled, psychology student. I love what I’ve been doing here and will continue to pursue it for as long as it feels good, but it’s not going to be a business for quite some time, if at all. That being said, I think it would be awesome if I could merge this wonderful hobby with another job in a cool industry – like as a front-of-house employee at a piercing shop – and I’m doing what I can to make that possible one day.