Meet Victoria Grace | Photographer & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Victoria Grace and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Victoria, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“It’s all messy: The hair. The bed. The words. The heart. Life.” – William Leal

I felt like that quote gave me permission to exist “as is.”

I’m sure other creatives or industry members feel pressured to be perfect, but it feels especially true in the photography world that “perfection” is a priority. I feel like everything I post, and everything I am needs to be perfectly curated and presentable. This is obviously impossible to accomplish without giving up things like authenticity, my actual personality, my mental health, and -and this is the thing that I gave up most when trying to present a “perfect” version of myself to the world – joy.

When I read that quote online, around the time that I was rebranding, it felt serendipitous. It ended up providing a feeling and being a call to action that I wanted to incorporate into every bit of my business.

I wanted clients to feel comfortable sending me their family formal shot lists and explaining why their mom and dad can absolutely not be next to each other in a photo. That is because family can be messy.

I wanted my pregnant clients to feel like they could show up barefoot to their sessions because no shoes were comfortable and not feel embarrassed to tell me that’s why they weren’t wearing shoes. I know better than some that pregnancy is messy.

I wanted families to come to sessions with their children and not feel they needed to apologize for their little ones running around, being silly, not listening 100% of the session, or spilling something on their shirts. Kids are messy. Parenting is messy.

I wanted new parents to feel comfortable NOT cleaning their entire home with a four-day-old baby in the house when I showed up for newborn pictures. Having a new baby (or babies) is messy.

Like the quote says: It’s all messy.

I also wanted to feel like I could show up to sessions with my hair in a messy bun (especially sessions requiring hikes) and not feel like I wasn’t “professional” enough. I wanted to post online without worrying about curating because my clients and sessions vary drastically from the coast to the mountains. The consistency isn’t about how they look (not all of my sessions are on the coast) but how I make my clients feel.

My editing style is consistent.

People say they can spot my photos while scrolling and know they are mine without reading the caption.

At the end of the day, though, I don’t want to share only the most perfectly curated images online. Some of my favorites are the messy ones. The wild kids. The silly couples. The moments that deviated from the plan ended up being more memorable that way.

My life is messy. It has been since I was a child.
I used to think that only my life was messy.
Then I read that quote.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Victoria Grace Photography has been in business for 12 years now and started as a joke between friends on Facebook.

I took some photos with a cheap camera of one of my best friends, she tagged me as Victoria Grace Photography, and then people started asking me to take their photos even though I had to keep explaining it was just a joke. She just thought my name was fancy.

Less than a year later I was shooting my first wedding as the sole photographer. Around two years later I quit my other job, I was waitressing through college, and I haven’t had another job besides photography since then.

Sometimes I feel like what sets me apart is that I have overcome so many obstacles in my personal life that there are very few situations or complications a client or a couple could share with me about their unique relationship or family situation that I won’t be able to empathize with and work with. I do not expect people to show up with perfect lives and no drama. I don’t expect every child to be 100% healthy or neurotypical. I don’t expect things to go right and as planned 100% of the time, and I’m always prepared if they don’t.

“I felt so stressed out all day and then you walked in and I know things will be okay so I can breathe again,” – one of my brides at her wedding in 2023. The thing I am most proud of is my ability to make someone feel calm in a crisis. Believe it or not a crisis at a wedding or leading up to a photoshoot is not a rarity. A good photographer can handle that with you – or handle it for you without you knowing in certain situations.

It hasn’t been an easy road getting here – because my life feels like one crisis after another sometimes, but I persevere because I can’t imagine returning to a 9-5 job after being able to fly to Germany to go to work, to walk downstairs from my hotel room and onto the beach to “clock in” for a wedding, or to take time off every December to spend the holidays with my kids. Every single crisis I have personally survived makes me a more empathetic person, and empathy in this job is so important.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend came to visit Nashville with me we would absolutely grab a coffee and brave the line to take a selfie at the #WhatLiftsYou mural in The Gulch. Sure, the line can be long. It’s going to be worth it and is on my bucket list even if that seems silly. It’s such a beautiful mural. Then we’d find a place for lunch – probably Nectar: Urban Cantina or Rosepepper Cantina because I am a white queso fan and will always choose it over yellow. As much as I love country music I am not a huge crowds fan, and neither is she, so we’d probably opt to visit downtown casually and then go spend some time at Radnor Lake State Park or visit the zoo. Wildhorse Salon for dinner, dessert, and music. We would stay somewhere like Renaissance Nashville because they have an indoor pool and excellent views – and after being out all day a late night swim and looking at the city lights would be the perfect ending.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First, I need to thank the friends and family members who continually remind me that as long as I am showing up and doing my best – that I am doing enough. Social media and industry pressure often make me feel like I’m not doing enough, even when I am exhausted from doing too much. Without them reminding me that I am just one person and to take care of myself, not just my kids or my business, I don’t think this business would have lasted twelve years. Thank you for buying calendars every year, tagging me when your friends ask who to hire, and hiring me yourselves sometimes, too.

I want to thank my kids – who are often my biggest cheerleaders. You’ll see them smiling (or napping) while riding with me up mountains, crossing state lines, road-tripping to the coast, riding in airplanes to other countries with me, and who do so happily knowing I’m taking them somewhere for me to work at. If I had any other children, I’m not sure I would have been able to juggle motherhood and entrepreneurship – especially during the NICU mom, single mom, or pandemic chapters.

I’m forever thankful to my fellow photographer friends who took the time to teach me to use my camera, who always answered questions, who referred people to me, who helped second shoot or cover for me in an emergency (like when the twins came three months early). Without a community like the one I’ve built with people like Jen, Ruby, Meghan, Regina, Liz, Hannah, Amber, and so many other photographers I know I would have quit years ago when things got hard. Then there are the other vendors who are too numerous to name after 12 years. Venues like The Parker Mill, High Hampton Inn, The Laurel Room and Taylor Ranch, The Asheville Country Club, and many others who added me to their featured vendor lists. Wedding planners who send their couples my way. Boutique owners like at Meadowbrooke Bridal who let me play with pretty dresses and work on my creativity without pressure. I actually think florists may be the nicest people I’ve ever met at weddings, followed closely by hair and makeup teams.

I want to thank my friend Lindsay for giving me unique opportunities and asked nothing in return. Because of her, I’ve had my images published in places like The New York Times and Parents magazine. So many “oh my gosh how cool is this,” moments in my career have been because of the connections she’s shared.

Website: www.victoriagracephotography.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/victoriagracephotography

Facebook: www.facebook.com/victoriagracephotographs

Image Credits
All photos taken by Victoria Grace Photography.