Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Keith.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sara. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My grandfather taught me every type of fine art from a young age, but photography was always my go-to. I continued to learn photography through High School, and eventually applied for arts colleges, which led to my undergraduate degree at the Savannah College of Art and Design. While I was away at college, my grandpa’s Alzheimer’s began to worsen exponentially. He realized what was happening, and so he gave me his entire camera collection. The experience of watching my grandpa battle the disease spurred a lot of my personal work; exploring memory and our relationships with those closest to us. I graduated from SCAD in 2011, and moved to Atlanta to intern for Jennifer Schwartz Gallery and Fall Line Press. I had also been working as a waitress to help pay the bills, so when a friend asked if I wanted to teach photography, I immediately said yes. I went into the interview and hugged my soon-to-be boss instead of shaking her hand…this was by far the most embarrassing move I’ve done at an interview, but hopefully portrayed my enthusiasm about the job. It worked, I got the job, and fell in love with teaching and the environment at the Showcase School. I was working at Jackson Fine Art for several years before committing more fully to Showcase, by helping behind the scenes with building the website, classes, workshops, etc. So when I heard that Showcase, Inc. was closing its doors, I was heartbroken. Jan (the Director of the school who I hugged at the interview), knew I had a passion for the school and asked if I would like to take it over. With a lot of enthusiasm from the instructors, the students and the community, Atlanta School of Photography opened officially in March of 2017.
Has it been a smooth road?
The 85 collapse happened in second month in business. I literally thought “Sure, let’s just do all the bad stuff now and get it over with”. That was devastating to all of the Cheshire Bridge businesses, and we were not immune. Luckily, I have an amazing staff, super hero instructors, and great community partners who all kicked into action. We developed workshops off site, offered classes at our partner locations, and our staff spread the word on social media every day. We still took a big hit, but we’re recovering well.
We’ve also been trying to let everyone know that we’re still here! When Showcase closed, a lot of people thought that the school closed entirely as well. We’ve been to every corner of Atlanta spending the word that we’re back!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
From beginner to advanced classes and one day workshops, we offer exciting, hands-on unique photographic experiences for photographers at every level. We offer adult community education classes, from the basics of digital camera operation, to advanced editing techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop, video, and specialized workshops. Our amazing super-hero team of instructors is here to help you at any stage in your photographic journey.
At the Atlanta School of Photography, our mission is to make photography accessible to everyone. We want each person to experience the power of a great photo and fantastic photography skills.
We want to bring Atlanta together through the power of photography!
I believe what sets us apart is a few things; our instructors are all professionals in their field. They’ve been there, done this, shot that and bring their experience to the classroom. I tell my students “this is ‘Learn from Sara’s Mistakes 101′”. Also, we recognize that our school is our students. We listen to them, love their feedback and are always willing to go the extra mile for our students. We’re honored that they’ve taken time out of their day to make our passion their own.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
We love Atlanta! Putting “Atlanta” in our business name comes with a level of responsibility, one that we’re completely ready to represent in the best way possible. There are so many great photographic opportunities for every person in Atlanta; from capturing family moments or taking epic travel photos, to starting your career as a professional photographer for yourself or for anyone one of the various industries in Atlanta.
In my opinion, Atlanta is a lot more accessible than any other major city in the US, and we want to give back by making our industry even more accessible. There’s a lot of things I wouldn’t have been able to do in other cities, like starting a photography school at 27.
Atlanta has been very generous in providing opportunities and funding to the arts, I hope that it can stay that way for a long time. It’s such an integral part of our community as Atlantans and I hope it solidifies as a part of our identity in the years to come.
Of course, like every other Atlantan, my only complaint is traffic. I understand that it’s very complicated to create a working, sustainable and beneficial public transportation system, and we’ve made some strides in the right direction, but I hope that I’ll be riding Marta to work at least by the day of my retirement party.
Pricing:
- Photo 1 Class – 4 classes (once a week) $155
- Photo 1 Express – Everything you need to know in one day $125
- Lightroom – 3 classes (once a week) $145
- Photoshop – 4 classes (once a week) $275
- Video – 3 classes (once a week) $145
- Workshops (Nature, Portraiture, Studio, Fashion, etc.) $30 – $150
- Coaching Session – One on one with an instructor $100/hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 1135 Sheridan Rd NE, Atlanta, GA
- Website: www.atlantaschoolofphotography.com
- Phone: 404-996-6978
- Email: staff@atlantaschoolofphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atlschoolofphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atlantaschoolofphoto/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/atlschoolphoto
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/atlanta-school-of-photography-atlanta
- Other: https://www.google.com/#q=atlanta+school+of+photography
Image Credit:
Photo of Owl – Cheryl Breissinger
Photo of Model – Danielle Ross
Light Painting Photo – Hannah Lim
Photo of Dru Jumping – Corey Willis
Photo of Sara – Andrew Michael Phillips
Other group photos credit Atlanta School of Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
