What She Does: The journey that Suzy Taylor took to become a photographer is almost as fantastic as her actual work. The New Zealand-native spent most of her adult life living the life of a business woman, working in real estate and finance. She had a love for art and photography, but no real confidence in her ability to create herself.
In the wake of the world-wide financial crisis Taylor immigrated to the United States, where she met a musician, married, and had a daughter. Money was tight in the young family, and any hope of exploring the art world seemed even further away. Still, Taylor's husband noticed that her eyes would linger on cameras in electronics stores, and despite a promise that they would only buy gifts for their little girl that Christmas he sold his prized guitars to purchase Taylor's first digital single-lens reflex camera.
"Someone believed in me enough once and bought me my first guitar allowing me to live my dream," he said. "Now it's your turn."
Since that Christmas Taylor has thrown herself into creating amazing work with a very inventive fairy tale flavor. She does all the typical photographer work (Weddings, graduations, etc.), but it's the vibrant fine art that has really lit a fire in her. JoMar Visions Gallery has already shown her work twice this year.
Why She Likes It: "I love how freeing it is, how it freezes a moment in time from my own perspective. It allows me to create memories for people to treasure, allows people to see themselves in a different light, seeing their true beauty and confidence that they didn't realize or forgot was there. And from an artistic standpoint it allows me to express myself, my emotions, experiences, and create my own world of beauty and surrealism for others to enjoy. Allowing them to step into my head and heart for a moment."
What Inspires Her: Taylor adores the work of Brooke Shaden and Jenna Martin, and considers them personal heroes. Most of her inspirations are actually aural. She likes being able to shut out the noise of life and just scribble out page after page of image ideas that come to her in the silence. For someone that loves to deal with frozen moments, Taylor lives for stillness.
If Not This, Then What: "I truly don't know. Before I found photography I was searching for myself and didn't know who I was, my passion or my purpose anymore other than a mother and wife. As cliché as it sounds, photography has helped me find my fire again and I can't imagine doing anything else other than maybe exploring other avenues within the industry."
If Not Here, Then Where: Happy as she is in Houston, new Zealand will always be her home. Drawn as she is to fantastic landscapes, she would be happy to explore and the world for more magical forests and mountains.
What's Next: Currently, Taylor is working hard to build up her portfolio, but she's somewhat limited by the fact that she hasn't been able to complete her immigration requirements due to financial considerations. She's set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds that will allow her to finish the process. Until she does so her ability to do simple things like legally drive in the United States (her international driver's license was only good for 12 months) are hampered, but she's still working hard on building up her portfolio.
More Creatives for 2014 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page).
Ashton Miyako, dressmaker T. Smith, artist Lindsay Finnen, photographerKaitlyn Stanley, tattoo artist Eleazar Galindo Navarro, video game maker Kate de Para, textile and clothing designer Shawn Swanner, video game painter Andy Gonzales, painter Chris Foreman, comic book sketcher Theresa DiMenno, photographer Jessica E. Jones, opera singer Atseko Factor, actor John Pluecker, writer, poet and language justice worker Ricky Ortiz, painter, tattoo artist Rabēa Ballin, artist David Wald, actor Lisa E. Harris, performing and visual artist Stephanie Todd Wong, executive director of Dance Source Houston Pamela Fagan Hutchins, novelist Heather Gordy, artist Mark Nasso, comic artist Shelbi-Nicole, artist Marian Szczepanski, novelist Jonathan Blake, fashion designer Doni Langlois, interior designer Kat Denson, dancer Blame the Comic, comedian Margaret Menchaca Alvarez, artist Jacquelyne Jay Boe, dancer Rene Fernandez, painter Teresa Chapman, choreographer and dancer
