Inspiration in Photography

View both of the Lizzy Gadd prints in today's post in the SCU Lightbox

​by Skip Cohen

I started Sunday Morning Reflections as a way to clear my head for a new week and share whatever was on my mind, always away from my daily topics of business and marketing. Over my years in business, loving the industry as I do, it's always been enough to keep me inspired. Often accused of being professional photography's cheerleader, there's never been a day that I didn't find some sort of inspiration for my continued love for the industry.

But the pandemic came along, and as every paradigm in business shifted, it became harder and harder to focus. Business for many photographers simply disappeared, and as much as I practically begged readers not to give up, the destruction and often hopelessness was like standing on the sidelines during the Civil War, watching Sherman's March to the Sea.

Despite my frustration in finding ways to help artists stay focused, these past couple of weeks became a challenge - but then along came Lizzy Gadd! She's a talented artist who needs to be on your radar. It doesn't matter whether you like her work, only that you recognize what she's accomplished.

Lizzy's a fine art photographer who I met through my CMO role at Platypod. After seven years of developing her craft, she decided to create a limited edition gallery and put her very best work on sale.

Images copyright Lizzy Gadd. All rights reserved.

Click to visit Lizzy's website

Creating a catalog of her very best and most favorite images, she launched everything online on May 6 with a forty-eight-hour sale at 50% off.

​In the first twenty-four hours, she accepted 90 orders for 150 prints - one of them, the image at the top of this post, which Sheila and I both loved, will be hanging in our dining room very soon.

There's a great anecdotal story about the bumblebee, who's designed completely wrong for flying. ​

​"Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway!"

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A little like the bumblebee, Lizzy set out to launch her fine art site, and sales exploded. Being a young photographer with somewhat limited experience, she had no predetermined negatives in her mind - she simply had incredible quality in her images, as well as her work ethic. 

And here's my point - I'm inspired by Lizzy's work, her incredible outlook on life, her art, and her optimism. If you think about it, her timing couldn't have been better - she launched this aspect of her business at a time when the world needed to see something new. Coming out of the pandemic, everyone's tired of the restrictions of the last year, and in turn, tired of looking at the same old artwork in their homes and offices. Well, along came a new artist with a fresh outlook, and feel to her images.

I'm not writing this morning to help Lizzy sell more prints, but to have you look at your own world after the last year and find that point of inspiration that puts a smile on your face or, more important, in your heart. I've been in the industry my entire adult life, and I'm so proud to have friends like Lizzy, who keep pushing the edge of the creative envelope and reminding us that if we keep an open mind; nothing is impossible.

We're all a little like the bumblebee, but after the last year, nobody would blame us for thinking we couldn't fly!

Wishing everybody a day of inspiration - a day where you can do more than just refocus on something new with your camera, but a day where that Lizzy-like spirit can take over your soul and give you the optimism to step outside your comfort zone and try something new.

As always, go for those for eleven-second hugs with the people you care about most. Remember, long hugs are therapeutic.  You need them to establish the right frame of mind to get back on track with your life, your family, friends, and your business!

Happy Sunday, everybody...and to Lizzy Gadd - thanks for the inspiration you've given so many of us!