Student Photographers Use talents To Start businesses and ministries

Liberty University’s campus is a breeding ground for young creatives hoping to capture pieces of the world on camera in a way that reflects the beauty of the heavenly creator.

Two Liberty students that embody this desire are juniors Katie Bridgman, 21, and Aliyah Burton, 20, who have each started their own photography businesses which are focused on capturing their love for people.

Bridgman’s creativity can be traced back to her childhood where she credits her mother’s love for crafts as her inspiration to begin producing art in any way possible, whether through scrapbooking, knitting or taking photos. 

This desire to create followed her into her teenage years where she began to lean towards photography as a potential path for her future. 

Her curiosity became an enthusiastic freefall after a trip her senior year from her hometown in Colorado to Florida. During the trip, Bridgman’s aunt, who is a photographer, told Bridgman about her great grandfather who was an influential Canadian photographer. She encouraged Bridgman to follow her natural talents in photography.

Upon her arrival home, Bridgman took senior portraits for her friends with her brother’s camera and steadily pursued photography for two years. In May 2020, she officially purchased a domain name and began her business, Katie Lynn Photos. 

Bridgman’s business has grown exponentially in just a year and with that, she has felt the responsibility of fine-tuning her craft and finding her own signature style that will set her apart from other young creatives.

Bridgman says she has learned a lot about editing and the business aspect of photography from YouTube. She has learned that passion and a desire to work on herself and her style are the foundational steps of building a business.

Although the bulk of her business focuses on intricately planned wedding photography, Bridgman welcomes the moments where she has complete creative freedom and can pick up a camera and simply capture the world around her off the clock.

“My favorite types of photography are portraits or street photography and photojournalism,” Bridgman said. “Just capturing the raw moments, usually of single people, because I think there is so much beauty in that.”

One of the greatest aspects of her job is her ability to interact with countless people and use those special interactions to share the Gospel. 

“That’s where relationships in photography are so important,” Bridgman said. “In building those relationships with your clients and people in front of your camera, you can share the Gospel in that way,” 

Bridgman hopes to follow her passion for people and use her creativity to serve God in any way she can, whether that is through missions photography overseas or urban ministry.

Another example of photo talent on Liberty’s campus, is Aliyah Burton. As a transfer student from North Central State College in Ohio, Burton has made her first year in Lynchburg full of beautiful photographs. 

Like Bridgman, Burton sees photography as a way to not only express her creativity but also to see and show people in a beautiful and real way.

“I’m really thankful for it. It’s something that I’ve been able to meet a lot of good people through and it’s really grown me as a person,” Burton said. “I feel like I (receive)a gift every time I get to take someone’s picture because I get to meet new people, and I have an excuse to have a vulnerable and real connection with people,” 

This being her fourth year as a photographer, Burton encourages other photographers not to judge their past work so harshly that they disregard its inherent beauty.

“Just because you are better now doesn’t mean you were bad to start with,” Burton said. “Something I like to think about are things that I obviously could have gone back and done differently, but I was a junior in high school, and I was just trying to figure out how to love people and take pictures and edit, and there was a lot going on. In a lot of ways, I’m just grateful for those moments.”

The quality of work put out by these student photographers is of professional quality.

Burton’s business, Aliyah Grace Burton Photography, has a website that displays her professional work. While Burton is learning how to navigate the business side of  a creative career, she points to the joy of seeing humans embracing their humanity as her driving force.

Every photo is a moment in time and Burton recognizes her duty in giving those moments to people, more than just fulfilling a shoot. Burton talked about an engagement shoot where the bride-to-be teared up telling the couple’s proposal story.

“It’s just a tiny little moment of like ‘Wow, this really matters to them,’” Burton said. “This is not just the next X amount of dollars I’m going to make. I think that is what … keeps me grounded in that creative mindset.”  

Burton is constantly pushing herself to try new techniques and capture unique photos and stories that point back to God. She hopes to bring photography with her out of college and into every stage of her life no matter what that may look like as she builds a family and a future.

Bridgman and Burton both won awards at the Juried Photography Exhibition displayed in the Art Gallery in Green Hall. Bridgman won first-place in conceptual photography and Burton won third place for portrait photography.

Nadia Vires is a Feature Reporter. Follow her on Twitter at @nadiavires.

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