Seeing Stories in Real Estate

When I first changed careers in 2006 to become a photographer, one of the first things I had to figure out, naturally, is how to make money.  Weddings, events, portraits, and obviously photojournalism all pay to some degree or another.  What I didn't anticipate was my long-standing relationship to real estate photography.  After interning at two different papers and starting on my path toward a career in photojournalism, I came back to DC in 2007 with no work.  It shouldn't have been surprising, but it was.  So I had to find other ways to make money.  That led me to shooting real estate, while I figured out how to get paid to shoot photojournalism.  First I shot for the company Homevisit, then on my own.  To this day I shoot real estate, even if only for a few people that I like shooting for, but still, it's occasional work that is actually interesting.

After walking into hundreds (thousands?) of homes, the furniture, the art, the books and the rugs can all tell you where they've been and sometimes what they've done in their lives.  Especially when the seller is an older person.  They usually have accumulated so many things from so many countries, it's hard not to look around and be interested in everything.  So even when I'm "only" taking pictures of someone's house, there are still stories.