Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydnee Martin.
Sydnee, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always been someone who loved to be creative, but I credit a lot of it to my love of reading growing up: being a dreamer, creating fictional stories in my head, even self-publishing my book when I was 15. My love of storytelling has always been strong, and while one day I’d love to write stories again, I utilize my love of photography to help tell the stories of others in the community and during my travels. I first began my love for photography during my teenage years, and my brother actually inspired me to dive more into my passions as he had the first DSLR camera that then became mine after I took it with me to college (Thank you to my dear brother!!) I was on the Yearbook committee in high school and in college, I met one of my closest friends in a photography club and we would go on photo adventures together and inspire one another.
Fast forward, I made it an effort to take my camera with me, and if I wasn’t taking photos, I was storytelling through videos and publishing my travel vlogs on YouTube. The intensity and passion of my love for photography grew stronger when I moved out to Virginia by myself for an internship during the pandemic. I needed a way to escape the news, the scariness, and the uncertainty, and found myself photographing the Arizona deserts and landscapes. After moving back home due to personal anxieties, I slowly got back out into the world, bringing my camera along with me.
It’s been a slow journey, but realizing my passion for photography isn’t going away anytime soon, I decided to really turn this thing into a business within the past few years after the pandemic–taking photos of weddings, graduations, events, and now, helping businesses tell the stories of who they are. However, while I hope to continue to build my clientele down the road and continuing to help local businesses or capture businesses and events in my area, I’ve doubled down on the fact that my passion for photography is rooted in my travels. To be able to use a camera to share my point of view with people who follow me and show them parts of the world they have yet to see and want to see, is my goal. I want to inspire others through my travel photography to explore cultures, landscapes, and people in different parts of the world because I truly believe that is what helps bring community together. Amidst the craziness, the most important thing is being willing to learn and be open, and travel, if able to, is a beautiful thing to experience. And what better way to showcase that than through a lens?
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There certainly have been some struggles. Mainly because in my town and general area there are already so many photographers doing similar things I’m interested with established clientele and relationships, and since I feel as though I started a little late, it’s been a little hard gaining connections, but I’m not giving up. I recognize that new people and businesses move out here every day with different wants and needs that they might not get from someone else, but I can help them with. I think the fact that I can connect with them at the early start of their business and explain my situation of starting a little late into the brand photography world and offer help (when I’m not focusing on my travel/adventure photography), especially when I’m gaining traction myself, I believe it could be a win-win for all and a learning process together.
I think I struggle a bit with marketing myself in this growing world of social media, but I try to combat that with word of mouth, because that will always be a strong skill set for growing a business. In an age where the algorithm can work for you or against you sometimes, it’s always important to connect with others in person or at local events, or have a community behind you that recommends you to others and shares your business with someone they know.
So yes, the road hasn’t been smooth, but no road is smooth. However, I want to at least keep trying before I give up fully, and take it moment by moment.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Sydystreets Photography is a photography service that is growing in Winchester, VA, and surrounding areas. I think I am finally narrowing down what I want my business to focus on, when I am interacting with others. As I mentioned, my passion definitely likes strongly with travel photography, but I love the moments where I can interact with others, hear their stories, and tell their stories through a lens in a way that helps them connect to others in our community and online. I focus on lifestyle and brand photography, but also offer wedding, portraiture, and event photography services as well.
Right now, I am focusing on working with businesses in the Winchester area. While I do provide a service to all, I feel strongly about using my photography to shed light on Black-owned, POC-owned, and Woman-owned Businesses in our area. As I grow my business, I want to help those who don’t get as much attention or promotion to grow, so if we can grow on this journey together and create a space where we deserve to showcase our talents and businesses with others in the community, then I want to help them with their content. whether it be providing headshots, brand photographs, or eventually, helping them with their social media marketing.
Currently, I don’t showcase the social media marketing of my talents, but I feel as though my photography helps with that side until I establish my pricing and availability, but in the meantime I do provide assistance to my mom’s beauty supply store in Winchester, VA called ISLA Beauty Supply and Hair. She’s trusted me with managing her social media accounts, using my photography for her website and social media, and creating flyers and promoting her business throughout the community.
At the end of the day, I want to provide assistance to the businesses in the area who aren’t often promoted, and I’m happy to network and connect with others who are just getting started because we need all the support that we can get.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
This is certainly a great question, especially as we see the shift of technology happening at a fast pace right before our eyes, so I can only imagine what that will look like for us in 5-10 years. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who is taking an interest in it, we see the shift happening with AI, which is both scary and unknown. We see businesses using AI to promote flyers instead of taking the time to hire local graphic designers, or we see photographers using AI to alter images or cull their artwork. There is the uncertainty of not knowing whether the content you are looking at is real or not, altering our perception of the direction that the industry is going in.
It’s only going to continue, especially as many people continue to use AI rather than having to pay someone to do the work they want. The reality is that we’ll have to work with it and work around it to stay true to our creativity and artwork, because it won’t go away, and too many people in this country and around the world are already using AI. Regardless, I think as long as you are doing what you know to be true to yourself is all that matters. Continuing to stay true to your artwork, your talents, and your time spent on what you love is the most important act a person can do, not giving way to any of the distractions in the process.
Pricing:
- Pricing varies depending on the type of ask a person has. Pricing can be different for their branding needs, wedding, event, and so forth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.betweensydystreets.com/photography
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydystreets?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&exln=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570019935556
