Meet Vanessa Luutran

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vanessa Luutran. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Vanessa, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I thought that finding my purpose, or something that felt immensely fulfilling, would come from deep, meaningful conversations with the people closest to me. Maybe on a hike up a mountain in Colorado. Or on the way down from a beautiful cliff jump in Hawaii. However, it came a little more quietly (shocker)—through loss, love, and digging through old iPhone 4s photos.

In 2015, I lost my best friend to leukemia. At 15 years old, the grief hit hard. Mostly because I don’t think I ever really stopped to think about death before. I spent the first few weeks scrolling as far back in my camera roll as I could, and studying every inch of her social media, to find any sort of remnants of our friendship. I had an entire camera roll of mediocre dinners and beautiful sunsets, but nothing of my best friend and me, just being.

I remember trying to piece together our friendship with old text messages and a blurry photo we took late one night in an Applebee’s parking lot. It devastated me. Not just because I missed her, but because I could never relive the way we really were—smiling, joking, and cracking up until it hurt.

Somewhere between the immense grief and navigating my awkward teen years without my friend, I realized how incredibly special it is to document life. Not for the perfect Instagram feed or to keep up with our peers, but for all of life’s beautiful and messy experiences. To remember the contagious smile she always had on. To remember the way she made me laugh with my whole body. And to remember all the tiny moments that felt like nothing until they became everything.

I think of her every time I take photos. As cheesy as it is, I want to freeze time for others, the time I didn’t get. To capture all of the in-between. To make sure the people in my life never have to wish they had more traces of me or each other. It’s easy to say I don’t care how I look in photos anymore, because I do. But I will ALWAYS opt to be photos now because each season of my life might just be the greatest one yet. And no matter what season of life you’re in, everybody looks good when they’re happy.

Finding my purpose wasn’t the cinematic moment I once thought it would be. It didn’t come remotely close to the movies I’d watch growing up. It came through a lot of tears and grief and one very poorly-lit photo of two best friends who should’ve had way more time (and photos) together.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a couples and wedding photographer on Long Island, New York. I love what I do because I get to share in the joy of the best moments of everybody’s lives. My history with love, loss, and grief at a young age allows me to recognize the importance of all these life milestones. I also recognize it as an immense responsibility, but I do it with a lot of pride. There is nothing more special to me than catching the brief moment of grandma dancing with the couple at their wedding (not even Pitbull’s “Fireball” can take away the emotions I feel during this). As much as I LOVE the perfect golden hour session, there is nothing more heartwarming to me, than all those quiet moments.

In this season of my business, it is incredibly crucial to me that I find my people. Connecting with clients and peers who understand and value the weight of the mundane has never been more important to me. The biggest compliment I get is, “I didn’t even know you took that photo!”

I am working on fostering these relationships and bringing confidence to my clients that I value their lives and relationships as if they’re my own.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Empathy and humor have saved me more times than I can count.

This job has made me realize I have empathy that’s rooted in such an appreciation for life, beyond the wedding day. I see the love poured into a couple from parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, colleagues. I feel the roller coaster of emotions that everybody goes through for the couple on their big day. During parent dances, I see decades of pride, worry, joy, protectiveness, grief, love, excitement, and gratitude, poured out into one song, one dance, a few tears. I value every moment and it’s definitely been the driving force behind the moments I capture.

Growing up as the younger sibling, I quickly learned to laugh my way through life. There is no setback I can’t make light of, and there is nothing that helps people relax and be themselves more than laughter. A genuine laugh is one of the best sounds of the human experience. I always encourage couples to just be present and have some fun. It’s never as awkward as you expect it to be (mostly because we’ll spend most of the time laughing at me).

For those who are early in their journey, the best advice I have for you is to embrace your humanity. This entire job is about connections and feeling and giving moments back to people that would otherwise be lost. Without these, photography is just a science.

Oh, and don’t forget to photograph your own life. We give up our weekends to be there for others- give yourself grace and be there for yourself as well.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

My ideal clients are people who are amazed by life far beyond the wedding day itself. People who value the kind of love that shows up in the smallest moments.

If you also appreciate life, relationships, and the “mundane” moments that carry extraordinary meaning, you’re my kind of client. I want to work with couples who value these fleeting moments as much as I do, because I know they’ll understand the quiet, powerful photos I love to capture.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vanessayenphoto.com
• Instagram: @vanessayenphoto

Image Credits

Photos by Siobhan
Brittany Keller Photo
Vanessa Yen Photo