At The Rust Belt Market: Alanna St. Laurent Photography

The offers a unique experience for patrons as well as vendors. The new art market is host to more than 60 artists every weekend. Each week, Ferndale Patch will feature one artist and get a closer view of what the heck they do.

Ferndale Patch: Who are you and what do you do?

Alanna St. Laurent: My name is Alanna St. Laurent and I am an urban and nature photographer located in Detroit. I sell unframed and framed prints. I also have photo magnets, greeting cards and bookmarks. I’m always looking for new products to incorporate my photography in to.

Ferndale Patch: How did you get your start?

St. Laurent: My serious interest in photography started after I took a class at the College for Creative Studies. I was an advisor there and had the opportunity to take classes for free. It was an amazing digital photography class. I always had an interest in photography, but I wasn’t really motivated to learn more about it. Since it was free, I decided to go for it. I learned about Flickr and learned more about my camera. We would go on field trips and take pictures. I just remember getting so excited. All of the sudden, all of my focus was on photography and I just wanted to learn everything I could about it.

Then I joined Exposure Detroit, which is a local photography group through Flickr. I started going to some of the outings and meeting people. I began learning about photography through other people.

Since my first class, I’ve taken a few workshops. I’ve also checked out books from the library and done research online, but I’m not technically trained as a photographer. I guess you could say that I’m more self-taught.

Ferndale Patch: What inspires you?

St. Laurent: I find it fascinating that you have this space to fill. You have this frame and you can take the camera and point it anywhere, at any moment, in any angle and you can capture this particular shot. You get to choose what’s in the frame. I always love to go out and find something that captures my eyes. Sometimes I can’t get everything in my frame, which is why I love wide-angle shots.

For me, what keeps it fresh is – even if you are going to go to the same place every day for a year, something is going to be different about each shot. The weather is going to be different, the seasons change and the events in that place will be different. That’s what I love about it.

Ferndale Patch: What is it about the Rust Belt that attracted you to it?

St. Laurent: I like looking at art. Even for myself, if I was going to go out and buy something for someone – I much rather buy something from an individual. I am all about local. I rather give my money to someone locally than a major corporation. So I feel like people that are coming here have that same mentality and they would prefer to support someone from the area.

There’s just a really good vibe here. If I’m going to try selling something, this is a great place to do it. There are genuinely nice people here. It’s a great atmosphere. We’ve got the music, the food and great art.

Rust Belt allows people to come, meet the artist and talk about the work before making a purchase. I have a lot of people that come in and ask where particular pictures are taken. They like to talk about their history of Detroit. You get this interaction with them that you just don’t get on a website or in another setting. A lot of people like to come in and get the item right away, websites don’t allow for that.

Ferndale Patch: Tell us one thing about your work that would surprise us.

St. Laurent: I think the different things that I choose to do in my photography may surprise some. I love being able to take my photographs and putting my own twist on them. For example, I have a picture of Enjoy Detroit, which is painted on a wall, and then I added the word Revival in there. I am finding myself more interested in incorporating these little nuances into my work. There are so many people that take pictures of Detroit and there are thousands upon thousands of photos. So, I always try to do something a little different – a different angle, different lighting.

I am always updating my inventory with new pictures and products.  I try adding new shots every week or two. It’s never the same booth. I want to have items that anyone can afford to buy.

Also, I think it may surprise some people that I quit my job earlier this year to become a full time photographer. It was really a leap of faith and I knew that it was a risk. I was always really apprehensive about being self-employed. Not only because of the paycheck, but the thought of – can I do this? But I do this and freelance shooting and it’s going well.

Alanna St. Laurent is a permanent vendor at Rust Belt Market. Pictures can also be purchased through her website: http://www.alannastlaurent.com. To stay updated on new prints and sales, “like” her Facebook page.