Teacher To Photographer
- Posted in :
- children
- Blog Post by :
- Brittany Hamilton
Middle School Teacher
Brittany’s journey from teacher to photographer is an interesting one. Imagine life as a middle school teacher. Picture 100+ hormonal pre-teens clumsily fighting their way through life, over 90% of which come from low-income families. You, the teacher, must have them all reading on-grade-level, yet 70% came to you four grade levels behind. Don’t forget about testing! You need to make sure they all pass that end-of-the-year standardized test or you will be forced into embarrassment and hours of professional development. Keep in mind that Johnny hasn’t eaten all weekend and Susie had to keep her newborn sister all night. Sound like your dream job?
Burned Out
Brittany Hamilton was a middle school teacher who was burned out from the high demands and little pay of the educational world. While she adored all of her students, her health and the stress of the job forced her to resign from the career she had always envisioned for herself. Although she was leaving the educational world, she had developed a passion for photography through being the yearbook advisor and sole creator of her school’s annual tradition. Because of this new found love, she decided to purchase her own camera (well, it was a gift from her husband) and began taking photos for family and friends. When her husband saw how good the photos were, he started buying her more and more lenses as gifts, and they decided she should go back to school to take photography courses.
At this time in her life, Brittany had been deeply depressed. She had survived cancer from a class 4 tumor, a 20 foot fall that crushed her skull and shattered her extremities, and a heart-wrenching rape. She was living with psoriatic arthritis, the devastation of infertility, and residual pain from terrors she had already survived. Brittany’s most traumatic experience was the sudden loss of her older brother… a tormenting, life-changing loss. These trials left her broken down and searching for purpose. And then came photography.
Enter Photography
Photography gave Brittany drive, passion, and purpose again. A new person arose from the ashes of pain and heartache. She loved meeting new people and making them happy through her attempts to start a business. You see, Brittany is from a town of less than 1,000 people, which made it difficult to launch a business. But her passion for photography and attention to detail led to a whole new world and the birth of Elegant Exposures.
Elegant Exposures became a huge chunk of Brittany’s heart. It was a platform for her to share the lessons she had learned and the faith she desperately gripped despite the curve balls life had thrown at her. Brittany persisted because of the promise from Revelation 21:4: “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Elegant Exposures, a little “hobby”…”job”…”business,” grew into so much more than those little, meaningless words. It is an inspiration to all of us who are ready to give up. Get out of bed. Get dressed. Explore. Discover your passion. And live life again.
Here is some of her recent work:
