Today we’d like to introduce you to Preston Page.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
My pro photography career started in 1972 as a freelance cinematographer, traveling primarily for National Geographic to add footage to their new film library. Then in 1975, I met a young lady with whom I wanted to spend more time a few days a year, so I took a job at the St. Louis-based Sporting News, where I was the new product editor at a sister publication, The Sporting Goods Dealer. Sportswear was among the items we received for review, but the accompanying photos of ski wear, swimsuits, swimwear, etc., were of the items just laid out flat on the floor. To make the reviews more engaging, the publisher allowed me to hire models so I could photograph the fashion items. Response to the reviews was better than I imagined, leading to triple the ad buys for the magazine. Things also worked out with the young lady, and we married in 1976. Then in 1977, I applied for and landed a job as a staff fashion photographer for the department store Stix, Baer & Fuller. St. Louis was second only to NYC for garment manufacturing then and was known as the “Paris of the Midwest.” But until I started at Stix, all fashion ads were illustrations, not photos. I was the first fashion photographer in St. Louis. By 1979, Stix wanted to close its photo department. So, I opened a studio with Stix as my primary client and took on other St. Louis fashion manufacturers, like Brown Shoe, Miss Elaine, Edison Brothers, and Splash! Then, in 1995, all my clients suddenly ceased operations over a few months. The simultaneous collapse of the garment industry in St. Louis was a mystery until I listened to a podcast, “Fallen Angels,” about Les Wexner, owner of The Limited and other retail chains. So I took a job in the IT department at Anheuser-Bush, where I hand-coded the first web server used by the company and was able to initiate projects to leverage web technology and cloud computing until I retired at the end of 2022. And in 2009, I opened a small studio in the Grand Center Arts District to start photographing the work of St. Louis-based designers in my spare time. The St. Louis fashion scene looked like it was coming back until Covid-19 landed in 2020 and hit the big Pause Button on everything, so I closed the studio space that May. Then late in 2022, I was drafted as a member of the STL Fashion Alliance to help jump-start the STL fashion scene Post Covid. Today I have a home-based studio, and through the STL Fashion Alliance and Fashion Group International, I volunteered to work pro=bono for 2023 with fashion designers this year to help get things moving again.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all. Recessions, client closings, and Covid-19 have been hard on my clients, trickling down to me.
Thanks for sharing that. You could tell us more about your work.
Fashion and beauty photography is my primary specialty, and how I’m known to most of my colleagues, but I love most art photography genres.
Current art projects in progress include:
- “Chiaroscuro” – nudes photographed like B&W landscapes.
- “Dark City” – cityscapes, architectural details, and landscapes with menacing mood.
- “Women’s Self-Defense Crash Course,” a YouTube series based on a course that I used to teach at UMSL, with a fashion theme.
And my relentless experimentation with tools and techniques makes for unique and engaging images.
Before we go, can you talk to us about how people can work, collaborate, or support you?
To quote Louis Pasteur, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” So I like to have regular portfolio-building sessions with designers, models, hair and makeup artists. Anyone interested may contact me via email, messaging, or at STL Fashion events to explore themes for TFP sessions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.prestonpage.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ppagephoto/
- Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/ppagephoto/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prestonpage/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4SJqnESbIBD8jdFsc98k1A
- Other: https://www.findaphotographer.com/photographer/preston-page
Image Credits
1- Pennie Beaumont, 2 – Grace Baldetti, 3 – Ron Ames, 4 – Annie Mbale, 5 – Ashley Hassel, 6 – Sean Smith, 7 – Jamie, Trout 8 – Mimi Graczyk
