The Story Behind 1783 Photography
What does it mean? How do you say it?
Ok, I’m finally putting this into a blog post for two reasons. One, I can send people here when they want to know what 1783 means and two, because it's a story about giving up in a good way and finding where you’re meant to be. It's the story of how my little business, that I started up literally after crying on my living room floor, came to be a huge part of my life!
Let's go back to my high school graduation. I was sitting in a hot room with all of my graduating class, listening to people speak while blow up pool toys were flying around the auditorium because we were all so mature (yea right). Our final speaker took the stage. I couldn’t tell you her name or who she was, but one thing she said sticks with me to this day. It wasn’t this awesome line that I’ve thought about daily to inspire me either. It was something I whole heartedly disagreed with at the age of 17 and I still do today (and I kind of use it to motivate me). It also made me really mad. Now I don’t remember verbatim what this lady said, but she said something along the lines of keeping your hobbies as hobbies and finding a real job that you like just enough to do. This way you won’t get sick of your passions if you don’t make them your job.
I never wanted a 9-5, I never wanted to work a job I hated, I refused to do something with my life that didn’t make me happy and wasn’t my passion. So when this lady said to not make your passions into your career, I thought "you are so wrong and I will not be one of those people". Fast forward a couple years and I was doing that exact thing. I wasn’t working a 9-5 but I was wasting away in college classes hoping to eventually work a 9-5. I thought it was my only choice. That's what everyone is doing so I should, too. I need to get my degree and find my 9-5 just like everyone else. I was at least studying something I loved, History, but I realistically chose that path because I thought it would get me a good job. But not doing well in school makes it very hard to get a good job that you need a Masters to go anywhere with (and I would rather cut off my pinky toe than attempt to get a Masters when I was having a hard time getting my Bachelors). I pushed and I pushed to do better. I wanted to be that person who fell 7 times and got up 8. I was going to do this!
And then, I quit.
After failing yet another class, having another horrible teacher who would not help me and crying for THE LAST TIME (there were 100 other times before that). I was sitting on my living room floor with my then boyfriend, now husband and I decided to quit, and have it be a good quit, because sometimes things aren’t meant to be and you have to walk away. After I called my parents to tell them I wouldn’t be taking classes anymore, it was real and within 5 minutes my business idea was born. I sat on the floor with the biggest sense of relief that I was done with the pain of school. But I'm not one to just do nothing, and work towards nothing, not even for a second. I need to know where I’m going for own sanity. So I thought back to that part of me that got me mad at my high school graduation - I refuse to do something with my life that doesn’t make me happy and isn’t my passion. So, guess my passion? Or my biggest one that's always been there, that people have told me I should pursue and I never did? PHOTOGRAPHY! Duh! What did you think I was going to say?!
I worked day and night researching how to start a business from scratch, how to make a career out of people paying me to take their photo. I was all about it for a while but I started to feel sad that I was leaving my love of history behind. I had spent summers interning with Historic Annapolis and Fort McHenry. I really did love it, but I knew I couldn’t make it a career and I really didn’t want to anymore. That's where 1783 comes from. My last name has been hard for others to pronounce my entire life so there was no way I was using that! Using my middle name, Lindsay Marie Photography, would have me getting mixed up with other photography businesses with the same name. I had learned in one of my college History classes that the United States had finalized our victory of the Revolutionary War, which is my favorite part of history, by signing the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783 - my Birthday of all days! I remember hearing it from the professor and sitting there in shock. See, I’m one of those people who loves those little connections with birthdays or anything that makes you feel special with something you love. I have always loved history and the fact that my most favorite part of history, colonial america and the revolutionary war, was won (technically) on my birthday was really special to me.
I decided to take that part of my past and bring it into my future and "1783 Photography" was born (plus it rhymes)! I thought of this quote from John Adams I had heard in my studies, and it was like it gave me the permission to pursue my photography: “I must study politics and war, so that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.”
Now that you've had a little history lesson, I hope you enjoyed reading about my journey and hopefully it inspires you in some way. Whether you're struggling in school and don't see an end in sight, or you're trying to start your own business.
Everyone starts somewhere, remember that <3
