Our Story
Take a minute to learn a little bit about us, how we met, and how we ended up as life long partners in life, family, creativity, and business.
How We Met
Even though Genevieve grew up in France and I grew up in Ohio, we have known each other for almost our entire lives. Our parents were good friends throughout our childhood, and our families would get together whenever Genevieve’s family traveled back to Ohio to visit relatives in the area. I remember writing letters to Genevieve and her siblings as a kid, since my mom thought it would be neat to have French pen pals. We don’t know if any of those letters still exist, but there’s always the chance they are hiding away in a bin somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered.
Our teenage years passed by with little contact until Genevieve decided to attend Kent State University for a degree in art education. It was at Kent State that she got her first taste of photography while taking a black and white photography class. At that time, I was working at The Timken Company’s Technology Center as an electronics technician and playing guitar in a band with my brother on the weekends.
Towards the end of her last year at Kent, Genevieve and I crossed paths when I visited the church she was attending at the time. We recognized each other and started chatting. She told me she attended Kent State, so I invited her to a club gig my band was playing in Kent that weekend.
We quickly hit it off, and our families had us practically married before we even officially started dating. We were engaged within a year of our relationship and married about six months after that.
Our Start in Photography
Genevieve’s interest in black and white travel and fine art photography began to flourish as we dated. Her work was displayed in several solo and multi-artist gallery shows throughout Northeast Ohio. Her photography caught the eye of several of our friends who were planning their own weddings at the time. They wanted something a bit different for their wedding, so Genevieve offered to photograph their wedding in a black and white documentary style, which was nearly unheard of at the time.
Word began to spread about this unique approach, and the requests started pouring in. Genevieve had a strong creative eye, but it quickly became clear she needed help researching the technical aspects of the necessary equipment to continue to progress. My involvement in the photography business began out of a desire to help her decide what cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment to invest in.
This deep dive into photographic equipment sparked my interest in photography, and before I knew it, all the creative energy I had previously put toward music and guitar started to flow into photography.
Genevieve was able to help me develop my eye and creativity, while I helped her bring her vision to life on the technical side. By the start of 2004, we were photographing weddings as a husband-and-wife team, and it has been that way since.
The Addition of a Family
By 2005, we were shooting as many as 40 weddings a year. Genevieve was working in the business full time, while I was still working full time in my technical job, attending classes towards a degree in mechanical engineering, and shooting with her on the weekends. Our eldest, Rochelle, was born in early 2006, and when we discovered later that year we were expecting another child, we realized something had to give.
I resigned from my technical job in 2007 to join Genevieve in the photography business full time, and we haven’t looked back since.
We have photographed over 500 weddings all over the country as a husband-and-wife team and have cherished the opportunity to work with so many amazing couples over the years.
