And here's one of her wedding photographs:
April 23, 2024
"I’m seeking out clients that are also neurodivergent, disabled and autistic so I don’t need to mask or hide my disabilities..."
"Especially on your wedding day, when there’s so much pressure on it being just right. Why would they hire me when they could just hire somebody who’s nondisabled?... I’ve marketed myself as a queer, awkward, anxious photographer who hopefully makes others feel more comfortable in front of the lens, so I tend to organically attract those same people.... I wear earplugs to reduce the noise level. I’ve learned to take breaks, to ask for what I need, to not take calls at night and communicate transparently upfront so I don’t have to work with people who are not going to be a good fit. I used to mask or camouflage my disabilities at weddings, but because I work with so many autistic and neurodiverse people, I feel free to be myself, and I feel understood by the people I’m photographing, who in turn feel understood by me. It creates a more authentic relationship and unmasks all of us so that I get photos other photographers wouldn’t be able to get otherwise...."Said Shannon Collins, quoted in "Capturing Special Moments, While Creating Inclusive Weddings/Shannon Collins, a 'queer, awkward, anxious photographer,' wants to change the way disabled people are viewed, one picture at a time" (NYT).Here's her Instagram account, and here's an example (where she's discussing the problem of telling photographic subjects to "relax"):
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37 comments:
Can we also demand that she appears and acts absolutely straight and 100% conventional on our wedding day, to match our cake?
The deceased evolutionary biologist and pop science writer Stephen Jay Gould used to tout his theory of "punctuated equilibrium" as key in evolution and extinction. He said that plant and animal species go along their merry way living and breeding until there's a major environmental change such as a volcano, flood, or comet impact. Choke points happen.
Safe, walled-off places suddenly disappear and the now uncompetitive living creatures in these environments all die off. Only those capable of reproductive success continue.
He was often considered a far left lefty until he died in 2002, and was accused of anti-racist biases (i.e., he took anti-racism too far) way back then. Today, would he be in JK Rowling's camp? He believed in biology. He believed in evolution. He believed in biological sex and reproductive fitness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould
… and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooby.
It's nice that some clients are willing to take a chance on her, but isn't there a huge risk that someone like her simply wouldn't show up for your event, or wouldn't be able to do everything promised/expected because of her issues? Who needs that extra set of worries when there's already so much stress getting ready for a big event?
If you can make people feel more comfortable "in their own skin", that's a good thing.
Transneurological pride parade.
She added nonbinary and disabled to her identity, and she is still boring.
There is a good chance that queer and awkward couples are like everyone else in that they want a wedding photographer who is reliable, courteous and competent. A wedding photographer marketing herself as queer, awkward and anxious or neurodivergent, nonbinary and disabled, shouldn't expect to get much work.
Are neurological divergent pathologies contagious and does masking mitigate their progress?
The bride and groom in the photo are very colorful. Her bouquet is voluptuous. To photograph these two people in front of such a visually busy background is a mistake. They disappear into the foliage.
Are "neuro divergent" conditions a source or expression? Is insanity a celebration or defense?
It's foolish thinking to expect the World to re-align itself to make you feel comfortable.
Find a niche and market to it and you might be successful.
...communicate transparently upfront so I don’t have to work with people who are not going to be a good fit.
When do the lawsuits start?
when *i* look for a contractor.. THESE are THE qualities i seek.. someone that says:
I’ve learned to take breaks, to ask for what I need, to not take calls at night and communicate transparently upfront so I don’t have to work with people
i do NOT want a job done.. i WANT to contribute to a mentally damaged persons self ease
Serious Question..
IF you hire her (zher? (they? (it?))), and it doesn't work out
never shows up..
gets there late, starts crying, and leaves..
makes it on time, but forgets cameras..
remembers cameras but takes pix of floors and ceilings..
WHEN it doesn't work out.. You'll be expected to be GLAD to pay anyway, because?
...communicate transparently upfront so I don’t have to work with people who are not going to be a good fit.
NOW, explain wedding cakes?
She doesn’t strike me as autistic in the least. Smiles, good eye contact with the camera, and speaking in easy flowing sentences. She is neuronormative. Is autism like gender now? You can just self-identify as autistic?
Is that Tiny Tim's son or grandson in the picture?
[shrug] Let the market speak, I say.
If people think for some reason that hiring a photographer who is like them cognitively is important (and maybe it is if you're on the autism spectrum - someone who will understand why you don't want to turn a little to the left and lift your chin and that you don't really care if you look unrecognizably beautiful in your pictures - how can I know what is important to a person whose thought processes don't map to mine?), rather than hiring a photographer who is unobtrusive and skilled, then this photographer will find work. If not, this photographer will go out of business, or will change to accommodate the business that does exist.
We got married on Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Our perfectly cognitively normative photographer backed out like a week before our wedding, we think because when he took the gig he didn't realize it would chop a hole in the middle of what was shaping up to be a beautiful September holiday weekend in Seattle, leaving us with no options except asking a couple of friends to do their best for us. So unreliability obviously isn't limited to the neurodivergent.
Our pictures have a... kind of a "home movie" quality to them that matches up nicely with the fact that we were young and poor and excited to be getting married. A little piece of me wishes we'd been able to have a pro that then, but only a little piece.
@Aggie
Great point!
"To photograph these two people in front of such a visually busy background is a mistake. They disappear into the foliage."
Maybe to an autistic person, they don't, or the whole idea of a focal point is not apt.
"They disappear into the foliage."
I like the way that works. Reminds me of a painting by Klimt or Bonnard.
That *here's* pointing to her Instagram is not her.
I wanted to dislike her business because of all the buzz words, but she's right, a typical photographer is going to be frustrated with clients who don't act the way they're used to. She takes great pictures.
This is what the free market looks like. Making lemonade out of lemon by increasing joy.
The photo of Tiny Tim and his bride is a fairly generic snapshot. I am assuming her work is at a higher level than that.
What is it about 'queer' people having to always advertise their queerness? At least she doesn't have pink hair (a miracle).
And I think the 'I'm autistic' patter is just normal, boring people glomming on to something that will separate them from other normal, boring people.
There is an epidemic of 'Look at me!!' that has swept the nation.
Our hard-working parents and grandparents would be appalled...
I clicked through to see the array she posted, and I really like the photos. The quality is good and they contain a lot of nature and natural joy, especially from the groom. It’s also a nice touch that he has his own camera…:).
Personally, I am put off by the photographer’s “word salad”, but its her marketing schtick…. If she can support herself and her family this way, all the more power to her.
Ann Althouse:
Maybe to an autistic person, they don't, or the whole idea of a focal point is not apt.
Not relevant unless that autistic person is the one purchasing the service AND that person has the same tastes.
It's a spectrum "marked by deficits in reciprocal social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior." If true, that doesn't sound like much of a chance she's all that reassuring to clients.
I agree with Sydney, she doesn't come off all that autistic.
Sydney said...
She doesn’t strike me as autistic in the least. Smiles, good eye contact with the camera, and speaking in easy flowing sentences. She is neuronormative. Is autism like gender now? You can just self-identify as autistic?
If she's autistic, she is high functioning. It would be interesting to find out when she was diagnosed with Autism. I'm guessing it was adulthood. Maybe she had some odd quirks or behavior that some people found slightly odd but amounted to no more than peccadillos.
It sounded like she was able to not act in that manner, hence her saying she was hiding her disability. But altering her actions to better fit in might have made her feel self-conscious or badly about herself. However if she was neurodivergent then she wouldn't feel badly because that is just how she is. Maybe people seemingly happy to attach the Autistic or neurodivergent label to themselves are similar to the fat acceptance folks who also want to not feel badly about themselves. Instead of Healthy-at-any-size it is Proper-at-any-function.
"That *here's* pointing to her Instagram is not her."
Thanks. Sorry. Fixed.
"Not relevant unless that autistic person is the one purchasing the service AND that person has the same tastes."
No. Often one appreciates art that is done by someone with a different point of view. Sometimes it's very specifically about eyesight. Think of El Greco and Van Gogh. You don't need their way of seeing to be yours. You might like it anyway.
"If she's autistic, she is high functioning."
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) significantly expanded the official meaning of "autism", taking in what used to be Alzheimer's and just about anything that could check a few symptom boxes and be considered a problem by the client. (Basically, insurance won't pay unless you have a DSM diagnosis.)
When I got married, the conversation with our photographer was very straightforward. We looked at his portfolio, pointed out things we liked, discussed timing and cost, and that was that. The pictures came out great and the photographer was invisible the entire time, as I believe is the way it’s supposed to be.
Putting aside everything else, to my untrained eye their* wedding portfolio seems fine. I’d consider them* for a wedding gig if the fee is competitive, but I’d be afraid the booking and possibly ceremonial experience won’t be that smooth.
*they/them grates on my ears, but I do my best to be somewhat polite.
Well, the couple and their party do seem relaxed in the photos.
Or as Spinal Tap's Ian Faith would say, "Her appeal is becoming more selective". Good luck with the niche career.
That’s a very sweet wedding photo. I love how people tend to look so very good in wedding photos possibly because they are (one hopes) glowing with that special wedding day happiness. This couple seems to be.
Ann Althouse:
"Not relevant unless that autistic person is the one purchasing the service AND that person has the same tastes."
No. Often one appreciates art that is done by someone with a different point of view. Sometimes it's very specifically about eyesight. Think of El Greco and Van Gogh. You don't need their way of seeing to be yours. You might like it anyway.
Only if I don't have to pay if I don't. Van Gogh - success after death doesn't count in wedding photography. El Greco - not nearly as nuclear but much the same, Britannica: dramatic and expressionistic style met with the puzzlement of his contemporaries but gained newfound appreciation in the 20th century.
But even given the artistic merit, a wedding is a hopefully one time affair of great value. Only the customer's tastes should influence that. Those patrons of great art exerted heavy influence on the artist's work. Rich people like to look good, so do brides.
I get that she talks to them and obviously they select her afterward, that's why I'm not that convinced her autism is much of a thing.
Why does she think people like her will accept and work with people like her?
I stopped reading at "Mx. Collins" and "their spouse".
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