A Woman In Business / February 2006
Back In Focus
 Andi Roberts |
Pat Lawrence
Andi Roberts doesn’t remember when she didn’t have a camera in her hands. Her father was a photographer. “His studio was on the dining room. And, we always had a darkroom in our home.”
The darkroom was where she got hooked. “I loved taking a blank piece of paper and having an image appear almost by magic. Photography became a very defining part of my life. It allowed me to set myself apart. I didn’t feel like everyone else on the inside; carrying around a camera somehow made it easier.”
Andi grew up in Belpre, graduating a year early, and went directly to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. “That’s where I really learned how to control a camera.” But she wanted more than a technical degree. She graduated in 1997 from Ohio University with a degree in fine arts.
“My course of work at OU was focused on portraits and women’s body image.
Because of my time at AIP, I wasn’t struggling with the technical aspects of photography; I could focus on the conceptual aspects of my work. I did a lot of emotionally draining work, ending in some nude self portraits for my Senior show.”
The response to the show was so positive, it almost ended her photography career. “I told everyone I didn’t like taking pictures anymore, but secretly I was scared to fail. I felt my work at OU had been so successful, there was no way to ever repeat the success.”
Restless and unhappy, she quit work on a Master’s degree at Michigan University and came home. “I didn’t pick up a camera again until 2001 when my friend gave birth to my godson. She had previously lost an infant, just three days old. It was so important to her to have photographs of this baby the second he came home, I had to take them for her.” The pictures were good; Andi was proud of them. “It got me back behind the camera again.”
Working in customer service jobs for several years, she says, “Each day I woke up thinking–hoping-am I sick?” The turning point came when her dad, Wayne Roberts, was killed by drunk driver while riding his motorcycle in September 2002. “It was devastating. Dad was my biggest fan and a photographer himself. My life has never been the same.” Shortly afterward, another friend asked Andi to take infant portraits of her new baby. “I used my Dad’s camera. All his gear had become mine. After I saw the completed work, I began planning to pursue photography as a profession.”
Taking pictures on just weekends and evenings, when her regular job was eliminated, Andi was upset at first. “But, it was the impetus I needed. It was really a gift. Dad’s death taught me life is too short to work a job you hate”
“I had no job, an unemployment check, and a ton of camera gear.” So in November of 2003, just days before her 30th birthday, Andi opened Roberts Family Photography.
After two years, she says, “I swear I have the best job in the world!”
In demand for her infant and maternity portraits, Andi says, “I especially enjoy having such a female centered business. Most of the work is with Moms.” Rather than having stressed, new mothers bring their newborn to the studio, Andi goes to their home. She often includes siblings and dads in the photos.
“Mom too, if she feels up to it. Just a few days postpartum, sometimes she doesn’t.”
She says maternity portraits are most often requested by mothers with their second or third child. “They are more comfortable with themselves.”
Andi’s fine arts background and a certain evocative photo journalistic style are reflected in her work, whether the pictures are pet portraits or weddings.
She has taught photography at Washington College, and offers photography workshops for women in her home. Since she keeps regular business hours in addition to weekend and evening appointments, Andi converted her garage and carport into an office and studio. “I bring my dogs to work with me every day.”
She is already planning the photographs for a birth she will attend next month. “The mother’s face when she is first handed her baby. The expressions of the grandmothers and the new dad. The new parents, before and after. I think it will be beautiful.”
Monthly finances are often uncertain, but “even though the road has been rocky,” she says, “now I wake up each morning thinking what a great job I have!”
For more information, contact Andi Roberts, Roberts Family Photography, 740-423-1122 or visit robertsfamilyphoto.com.
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