The Wise Women Project ~ Part VI: Lucky Breaks, Epiphanies and Acts of Semi-reckless Abandon

November 23, 2010

My journey into being a photographer has been a series of lucky breaks, epiphanies and acts of semi-reckless abandon.

When I was 4 years old, my pre-school teacher asked my mom if I had any access to art supplies at all. My mom was shocked - I had a child’s art studio at my disposal! But at that time, I showed a marked lack of talent. I grew up feeling untalented, uncreative and somehow lacking.

Until Jr. High school when my 9th grade teacher touched off a spark in me and all of a sudden I was intrigued. In high school, I took art every year. I found that I was pretty good. I would spend a lot of time drawing images from magazines or copying art that I saw. In Grade 12, it all changed.

I was dating a guy who introduced me to photography. I had always taken snapshots, but this was different. He did a very simple portrait session of me sitting on a chair, and then he took me into the darkroom and I was rapt. I fell in love with the chemicals; the process and the magic of creating this image from start to finish. My art teacher was gracious enough to allow me to use the darkroom for a year or so after I graduated. I played and I learned.

In the meantime though, I was at University doing a Drama major. I took a drawing class as an option and my professor hated me. It didn’t matter what I did, it was wrong. I again felt relegated to the realms of the untalented. I was beginning to question my devotion to Drama as well and after second year, I left school entirely. I was lost and fumbling my way through life, knowing that I should go back to school, but having no direction.

So instead, I left on a one year work Visa for Australia with my bike. I had a grand vision of cycling all over the country, taking photographs to document my journey. And though little of my trip turned out as planned, in Brisbane five months later I had the largest epiphany of my life. I needed to go to art school and be a photographer. I was looking up course catalogues in the Brisbane Library, plotting the course of my next few years. I was home within the month, cutting my trip short. Five months later I was in summer school on my way to full time that September. I still didn’t think of this as a career though. I think I always felt that it would just be an expensive hobby and it wasn’t until third year, when I had a couple of professors who gave me a lot of latitude and access to the facilities, that I realized that this was it. This was my career. I started my company at the start of fourth year because people were starting to pay me to do work for them.

Looking back on that early work, it is quite awful; but it helped to define me as an artist. After graduation I worked as a school photographer for a year and in 2000 I opened a studio in a funky warehouse in Inglewood. I had NO idea what I was getting in to, but I knew that I had to take the chance. I took out loans and my husband did most of the construction. I was hungry for knowledge and I learned all that I could about the business and art. And for the next 5 years, I took in almost any job I could get my hands on and worked day and night. I developed a strong reputation and my name seemed to be out there.

But then 2005 came and my world was rocked. My marriage dissolved, my daughter was born and I was audited. Through all of that, I had my strongest year-mostly out of desperation. The work saved me financially and emotionally, but my outlook and priorities had changed. I found that I rarely enjoyed shooting weddings anymore, though they had been my bread and butter for years. I had been a national winner in the Fuji competition for my wedding work, and yet, over the next few years I slowly let them go; still doing weddings for good or interesting clients but choosing to shift the focus to my portrait work. I also made the ultimate decision to move my business in to my home to try and reclaim some time. I could no longer work 16 hour days and every weekend. I was a single mom, running a business and trying to pull herself back together.


It is a constant struggle to find balance in being the kind of parent that I want to be while being true to my passion for my work. I get exhausted, wishing that I had the energy I did ten years ago to work long hours. In the last year or two I have found my way back to my fine art roots and I have entered the world of being a mixed media artist.


I have recently realized that my vision goes far beyond photography and I have just started teaching art journaling classes in my (ha ha) spare time. I have been integrating digital painting and mixed media work in to my client work and have had fantastic feedback.

I know now that I am an artist and am learning to trust myself and my work. I want to be know more for this in the future and am working towards that goal. I have AMAZING support and love from my family and friends and most importantly, from my boyfriend. I want my daughter to grow up being true to her spirit because she saw her mother doing the same. To know that she can do and be anything? That is my ultimate legacy.

I am so fortunate to love what I do - even on the hardest days I know how blessed I am to make my living with my art!

What three things do I most cherish?
I could say my tools - camera, computer etc…but they are just things. What I truly cherish is my relationships:

My daughter Carter of course. She inspires me daily to be better and stronger and I have learned so much from being a parent that I didn’t realize that I would. She is my muse as well - I can’t create in her image enough.

My boyfriend Dorron, without whom I think I would slowly go crazy. He is my rock and talks me off the ledge frequently. More importantly, he is my ultimate source of unending support.

My family and friends. They all bring so much love, inspiration and support to my world. I would be lost without all of them and I hope that they all know that.

If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Take chances and live without fear and regrets. It is far too easy to waste time looking back instead of living with abandon and creating a most amazing life!

What are you most proud of when it comes to your life?

My two babies - Carter and Chipperfield Photography. They have both provided me with the most profoundly intense emotions and experiences. I have grown and continue to grow as a result of raising them through integrity. It is through my many challenges and struggles that I am truly able to appreciate the very many blessings that I have.

Jennifer Chipperfield has run Chipperfield Photography for thirteen years and works very full time as a photographer, educator and mixed media artist in Calgary, Alberta. She lives with her 5 year old daughter and two huskies in a chaotic and furry home. She is fortunate enough to run her studio from her house and creates daily in her lair. Chipperfield Photography is a custom portrait and art studio serving individuals, families and companies seeking to document their legacy and have a one of a kind portrait experience. She can be found at http://www.chipperfieldphotography.com/ or at http://www.chipperfieldphotography.blogspot.com/.



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To find out more about the inspiration for the Wise Women Project click Here