Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Jones.
Shannon, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As a mother to three children, I can say that my story started out like most. I graduated from college with a degree in Advertising, married my high school sweetheart, and had dreams to work in New York at a large advertising agency someday. However; real life happened, and we ended up in Dallas, TX. My husband and I made a deal that whoever got a job first, that was where we were going. He was first. My creative dreams fell to the side as the economy was halted after 9/11. I ended up in the event planning industry for several years, as well as pharmaceutical meeting planning, putting my photography dreams aside. It wasn’t until I had my third child that I decided to take the leap and start my own business. We had moved a few times for my husband’s career, and I chose to put mine aside to be home with my babes for a few years.
I’m not sure if you want to call this a “calling” or a “whisper” from somewhere else, but I had always felt it. I was the photographer on my dance team in high school, took classes in college, and was always drawn from an early age to old photographs. I loved going to my grandparents’ home and looking at all of the old photographs. There were pictures in frames, albums, hanging on the walls, in black and white, and I just loved them all. I loved the story, asking more about who they were, and trying to figure out who I looked like from my family’s history. My grandmother painted, and made stained glass windows for the Catholic church, so I thank her for being a lefty and having a creative side.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Classic and timeless portraits are what I create for my clients. Because I truly believe that seeing your family, and your memories beautifully displayed in print; honestly, there is nothing better. I offer a fine line of products including museum quality canvas gallery wraps, heirloom albums, custom framing, as well as gifts for family and friends. I want my clients to hold prints, place pictures in frames around their home, and hang them on their walls. These are their forever memories and I am so lucky to be able to capture the love in their family for them.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
As a child, I lived in Jakarta Indonesia for a little over 3 years. Given everything that is going on in the world today, I don’t think that the role of artists has changed, I just think that the expectations of photographers have changed. Photography started out as a luxury, you received a printed photograph, and it had value, it was treasured, it was a keepsake. If you look back into the past, often family’s members had 1 portrait in their wallet of their spouse, or their child, this was the one image that they could look at to remember the person that they loved. We now live in an age where images are thrown at us all day long.
Photographers are everywhere, and you can find them charging $50 for a session. Photography is an art, but it can also be a simple I phone snap. But… someone took that image because they wanted to remember something. Photography is a language that everyone around the world can understand. Local, national, or international events can use photography (such as the news) to explain a message with no words. How does this affect my art? It tells me that photography will always be valued in one way or another. People can share emotions, news, moments, and memories no matter what country they live in. I am proud to say that my clients come to me because they value photography, they want family memories, and their love printed photographs. They leave with something tangible, a family keepsake, and to me, there is nothing better than that.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Please visit my website www.shannonreecejonesphotography.com
Contact Info:
- Address: Houston, TX
- Website: www.shannonreecejonesphotography.com
- Phone: 2142749223
- Email: shannon@shannonreecejonesphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonreecejonesphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonreecejonesphotography/
Image Credit:
Hair & Makeup Annalisa Hastings
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