Meet Julia Findlay | Photographer

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

Hi Julia, how has your work-life balance changed over time?

I love this question, honestly because I get asked it all the time. There was a point last year when I was working three jobs and basically never had a day off. It was hard but I had to step back and ask myself what makes me happiest. That was an easy answer for me because after becoming a mother nothing in the world compares to the happiness I get from that. My kids are everything, my entire universe and I remember asking myself what can I do to make them proud. I didn’t want them to look back and think my mom worked all the time or my mom was tired all the time. I wanted them to look back and remember the little in-between moments and to remember I was always there for them. I wanted them to look back and remember that my mom had a really cool job, a job that made people happy and that she loved, and that we got to go with her and watch her make art and see her truly happy.

I finally left one of my three jobs and although it was extremely hard to walk away from that. I knew I needed a healthy balance. I want my kids to remember “dang, my mom worked hard, but she was also present whenever we needed her.”

I have been an esthetician for almost 12 years now and that’s my main career. I have been able to move to amazing places because of it and it has given me so many amazing friendships and experiences I am so thankful for. With that being said, photography is my true love! I started taking pictures as far back as I can remember… in high school, I would bug all my friends to model for me in the good old Myspace days. We would spend hours outside getting the best profile picture. My grandfather Joel is also an amazing photographer, and I have always been so inspired by him. When I graduated high school I worked at a clothing store while I was in Esthetician school which was an awesome experience.  I got to work with actual clothing brands and models. Part of my job was also to help run the social media accounts, so photography came back into my life and really consumed most of my early 20s because of that position. I remember driving around to find the best locations and reaching out to lots of people to model for me just so I could practice all the time. A few years later I got married and had my first baby, and the only thing I wanted to do was be a mother, so I put photography on the back burner for a long time, and then I had my second child my daughter.

Being a mom is the most rewarding and life-changing thing in the world. I remember when I picked up my camera again feeling that something was different. I wanted to still capture fashion and photography that had more of an editorial edgy feel, but motherhood was really speaking to me this time around. So I had to think of creative ways to incorporate the two of them.

So to answer your first question my main job and love in life is being a mom and being an Esthetician is what I have my degree in but photography is truly my muse. I have taken the time to figure out what a healthy work-life balance looks like so that I can be there for my kids but also have a few days a week that I can go and fully focus on photography.

I feel like because I have found this balance in my life where I can have a few days a week to do something that makes me feel creative and fuels me. I want my kids to be proud of me and I hope that I can inspire them to know that no matter what they want in life, they can find a balance to fit it in.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I seriously have been taking pictures since I was around 7. Every week my mom would take me to Walgreens and get me a digital camera and I remember the highlight of my week was when I could go get my film developed. In high school, I would beg all my friends to model for me. We would walk to the park and spend hours taking pictures. In my early 20s, I worked for a really cool alternative clothing store and that’s where my love for fashion in photography started. I started really finding my niche in more grungy, alternative fashion photography. I met so many models who were always so supportive of my work and always were down to shoot so I spent so many years of my early 20s driving around Tucson scoping out really cool locations and setting up photoshoots.

In my late 20s, I had my first baby that completely changed my world, and honestly the art I wanted to create changed a lot. Motherhood was something I wanted to start incorporating into my photography. I still wanted a cool element of fashion, but I wanted to figure out a way to mix the two together. I wanted to do family pictures but in a really nontraditional way.

Photography is one of those industries that is constantly changing. When I first started I edited completely differently than how I do now. It wasn’t speaking to me so I started to change my editing style and let me tell you that comes with a lot of trial and error and self-doubt, to be honest. I came back to doing photography after having my second child, my daughter, and there were so many new photographers in the game and so many incredible ones that I have honestly almost stopped doing photography so many times because it’s hard to not compare yourself.

After all these years, I feel like I am finally comfortable in my art, I have found a way to capture couples and motherhood in a more alternative and I feel editorial yet beautiful way. I love the fashion aspect of it still and provide my clients with outfits or mood boards to help them. I don’t really like to label my art. I like moody but I also like grainy but the sun still speaks to me as well. You have to love what you do and not compare yourself to others. I find that to be extremely important to remember. Your clients come to you for the experience you provide them. I want my clients to truly feel like we are old friends who just get to hang out and reconnect. I want to have real moments be captured where their kids are just running around being themselves and nothing is overly posed. I want couples to look at their images and be like yes that’s totally us. Everyone in this industry is so talented and everyone’s art is beautiful in their own way. The most important thing is to embrace everyone’s differences and just do you boo!!

What I want most is for my clients to simply have pictures that make them feel something, pictures that capture raw and real love between them as partners and as they experience motherhood. I like that my work has a certain edge to it,I love to incorporate elements like florals into my work as well. I want you to look back at yourself as a mother and feel crazy beautiful but also remember how empowering and badass and cool you are and what a total goddess you are. I want my couples to have pictures to look back on that they can’t believe how cool they look but, for my pictures to do more than just capture their love, I want it to show who they are together and the actual real connection they have. I want my work to scream fun and different and know that when you shoot with me we are going to create something new and fresh and something that truly speaks to who they are.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Man I love Tucson, I left it when I was 25 I remember feeling “over it” and after having my kids I came back to it and it made me fall in love with it again.

I would take someone to Bisbee for sure, it’s weird and artsy and it’s where my husband and I like to getaway. It has a haunted vibe and the hotels are really rad!

The desert is insanely beautiful and I don’t think many people know that. I spent so much time as a kid with my mom hiking up Sabino Canyon, it’s crazy beautiful and that’s also where my husband asked me to marry him, so I have amazing memories there! It’s a side of the desert not many people have seen so that would definitely be a go-to.

If you’re in Tucson you have to have Mexican food! We get crazy spoiled with how authentic the Mexican food is here. Sonoran Dogs for the win.

My absolute favorite restaurant in Tucson is “Little Anthony’s Diner.” It’s this super adorable place that’s completely decorated in the 1950’s theme. I had every birthday party there when I was a little girl. It’s really nostalgic for me.

I would also take them to the Desert Museum, the drive there is so insanely beautiful and I feel like when you don’t grow up with Javelina and bobcats in your backyard, it’s incredible to see them in person.

Also Mount Lemmon! The drive up there shows a side of Tucson that is more green and not so deserty. It’s also totally a Tucson kid thing to get to the very top and get a huge cookie at the cookie cabin.

And duh, Eegees! Everyone has to try that, especially in July… WATERMELON MONTH!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Alex. My husband has always been my biggest supporter in everything I do. We are lifelong sweethearts. I have known him since preschool, so he has experienced everything with me. He has always been so insanely supportive of my photography.  He gets the kids fed and ready for bed and reads books so I can have a day or two a week to go out and escape in my art and do photography. Or he brings the kids to my shoots with me and lets them run around and be wild so mommy can work. He is also a chef and has been in the restaurant industry in Tucson for many years and has so much knowledge about it. He is the hardest working human I know and I just love the heck out of him!

Website: julialeaphotography.com

Instagram: Julia lea photography

Image Credits
first picture of me and my kids was taken by Emily Jayne photography all other images are taken by me Julia Lea Photography