Tamea Burd is a portrait photographer based in Vancouver who offers Wellness Sessions, a mixture of portrait photography and therapy aimed to make his clients feel at ease with themselves and the image they offer to the world. In this interview, we talk to him about this concept, about why it’s needed, and what difference it makes in an era so full of turmoil.
Tamea’s Essential Photography Gear
According to Tamea
I shoot with Sony products. The essential gear for me is a really good zoom portrait lens and a really good prime portrait lens. As most of my sessions are outdoors, I also always make sure to bring a small, dark, waterproof bag for clients to sit or lean on, which keeps them comfortable and clean on damp or dirty surfaces. It’s a small, basic thing, but having comfortable subjects is also essential to me.
The Phoblographer: Would you tell us something about yourself?
Tamea Burd: My name is Tamea Burd. I live and work in Vancouver, BC, Canada. It’s very beautiful, but it’s also one of the most expensive cities in the world. As is true for most places, being self-employed in the Arts is far from easy here. Those of us who have stayed committed to this kind of career —despite the financial and mental difficulties involved— do so because being an artist is not just what we do; it’s who we are. I deeply and completely love my job because it allows me to create and connect with people in ways that never cease to amaze and inspire me.
I’ve been working full-time as a photographer since 2007, and in addition to my wellness shoots, I provide photography for portraits, headshots, weddings, and events.
The Phoblographer: How did you get into photography?
Tamea Burd: I fell in love with photography in the 8th grade when my wonderful school librarian gave me two Life Magazine books of classic photographs. I’d spend hours looking at the work of Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Richard Avedon, Robert Doisneau, and Margaret Bourke-White. That year, a family friend gave me an inexpensive point-and-shoot Kodak camera for Christmas. It was a film camera so I couldn’t practice much, because as a kid I couldn’t afford the cost of film and development. So instead, I read every book about photography I could find. In my later teens, I discovered and was fascinated by the brilliantly creative self-portraits of Cindy Sherman, Herb Ritts for his magical combinations of light and dark, and Robert Mapplethorpe’s gritty, intense, almost painful beauty.
I was the child of mentally unstable, extremely abusive narcissists. Pretty much since birth, I was conditioned to always give my energy and my focus to others rather than to myself, which is a really harmful, unhealthy habit to form. But in my case, the one blessing is that I developed a deep affinity for portrait photography. It’s a literal manifestation of focusing your energy on others. But the wonderful thing is that as a photographer, you get to choose when, where, how, and why. You’re appreciated and acknowledged for your energy and effort. Your voice and vision aren’t belittled, silenced, or taken for granted. They’re sought out and appreciated.
The Phoblographer: What led you to introduce coaching and counseling skills in your photoshoots?
Tamea Burd: In my late twenties, I sought therapy for my childhood trauma. I finally began to let myself be a whole person, a healing person. I finally learned tools and skills for boundaries, communicating, and self-esteem. It was life-changing, and I realized I wanted to help others find their way to themselves too. I knew I had a powerful, fundamental creative drive, so becoming a full-time therapist was not an ideal option for me. Instead, I continued to work in the Arts while volunteering as a peer counselor and eventually training and becoming certified as a mental wellness coach.
The original thought was to supplement my photography income with wellness coaching. But it wasn’t a driving passion for me, so I didn’t put the necessary energy or effort into making coaching happen as an additional career. What happened instead (without my conscious intent) was that I found myself using those skills automatically during my photography shoots.
It’s been my experience that most photography clients come to a shoot feeling nervous and insecure, and sometimes – if they’re getting photos because they need to, not because they want to – they’re feeling resentful too. My background and training in counseling and coaching allowed me to respond to other people’s negative emotions with understanding and empathy.
I’ve always felt that a crucial part of how I work as a photographer is to help my clients overcome their insecurities, self-doubts, and photo-phobia. Taking a beautiful picture of someone is so much easier when that person feels safe, valued, and supported. So the introduction of my coaching and counseling skills wasn’t deliberate; it’s always been a natural part of my creative process.
The Phoblographer: the pandemic has affected our general mental health in unexpected ways. What have you noticed in your clients?
Tamea Burd: About six months into the pandemic, it became clear how much more on-edge people were feeling. At first, it was especially noticeable in my repeat clients. As they were people I had worked with before, the changes were really obvious. We’re a few years into the pandemic, and so many other things are incredibly challenging and frightening. Wars, climate change, politics, the economy… For most of us, life, in general, seems like a massive and terrifying dumpster fire more often than not. All of my clients are more depressed and anxious than they used to be. Just about everybody is.
Most of us are having a lot more difficulty being calm, still, and present these days. With my photography clients in particular, I notice that they struggle to focus, get comfortable, or even trust me to do a good job for them. And I’ve found it’s so much harder to encourage people to have a happy facial expression, relaxed body language, or a natural smile. Feeling happy and relaxed seems like such an unnatural state of being for many of us now.
The Phoblographer: I’ve read about your wellness sessions on your website. What’s the philosophy behind them? Why did you decide to offer them?
Tamea Burd: I’ve always believed that photography can be a powerful tool for enhancing self-esteem. Since I first became a photographer, my image retouching has been subtle, I prefer natural light, and I keep filters to a minimum. I believe in the value of showing people how beautiful they are, just as they are. Helping my clients feel good about themselves has always been an intrinsic part of my work. How we feel affects how we appear.
Whenever possible, I’ve consistently begun my photo shoots by chatting with clients until they’re ready to have their pictures taken. I’ve instinctively paid attention to their body language, to changes in their eyes and voice. It’s noticeable when someone starts to feel safer and more connected to me, rather than just feeling anxiety and dread about the thought of being photographed.
It used to take about 15 to 20 minutes of talking about non-photography topics. But as the pandemic progressed, I found it was taking longer and longer to help people feel comfortable and confident. I noticed that our conversations were turning to the topics of stress and anxiety almost right away. For the first time, I found myself using my counseling and coaching skills deliberately.
Those 15 to 20 minutes of casual chatting were now becoming up to an hour of informal therapy until it was clear that people were feeling more assured and able to enjoy the experience of their shoot.
The day I realized wellness photography sessions were a valuable, unique service I could offer was when a client who happened to be a psychologist told me I had helped her more in one hour than her own therapist had in the past year. I went home that day and thought about how we make the world a better place by listening to each other and helping each other. I thought about how my background and experience were unusually appropriate to offer people a therapeutic combination of my artistic and mental health skills.
The Phoblographer: What’s your methodology? How do you get people to open up?
Tamea Burd: I understand and respect how my clients are feeling. I never, ever force someone to do something that doesn’t feel right or good for them. So I don’t push my clients to fake a smile, pose unnaturally, or pretend to be happy if they aren’t. I can’t stand toxic positivity. The idea that we’re supposed to shove our reality aside and only think positive thoughts is outdated, unhealthy, and unhelpful. My wellness sessions are based on being mindful, honest, and connected to your feelings.
When a client has booked a wellness shoot, I usually begin by asking them to tell me a bit about themselves. Everybody is different. Some people start right away with why they hate having their photos taken or why they struggle with self-esteem. Others need to talk for a while about casual topics. I have some structure in how I gently lead people to share their obstacles with me, but again, that varies from person to person.
The best way to get people to open up to you is to really, truly listen. I pay attention to what a person is saying and try not to interrupt unless necessary. I feel and show empathy, sympathy, and compassion. I let people know they’re heard, believed, and safe.
We talk for about 45 minutes before I even bring out the camera. I make it a very collaborative process. I have people focus on their breathing, and sometimes I’ll show them how to take deep, steady, calming breaths. I tell them they don’t have to look at the camera unless they want to. I encourage them to sit, stand, and move, whatever their body wants to at that moment. If they’re struggling to connect with how they feel in their body, I’ll show them some very simple techniques to release muscle tension. Gentle stretching and ‘shaking it out’ are easy and effective for most people.
I offer encouraging feedback while I continue to chat about casual topics. As we progress, I’ll often ask them to think – and to tell me if they want to – about people, animals, or places they love. Thinking and talking about things we love is extremely comforting and calming.
Some people want to see their photos on my camera LCD screen as we go, and they have ideas they want to try for their photos. Some people want me to guide the whole process and want me to choose their finished photos for them.
The Phoblographer: What is the most noticeable effect on your clients?
Tamea Burd: 100% of the client feedback I’ve received is that people are profoundly affected by their wellness photo sessions with me. They no longer dread seeing images of themselves. When they look at themselves in a mirror, it’s with more appreciation and self-compassion. They don’t cringe or shrink every time someone wants to take their picture. They no longer feel that it’s necessary to use retouching and filters in the images they share of themselves online. Their negative self-talk has decreased, and they’re able to see themselves more kindly and more objectively.
When I give my clients their finished photos from their session, the thing I hear most often is that it’s the first time in their life that they’ve had pictures of themselves that they love and are proud of. I will never, ever get tired of hearing that; it makes my heart glow every single time.
The Phoblographer: Do you have a particular anecdote or moment you would like to share with us?
Tamea Burd: I don’t feel it would be ethical or respectful to give specific examples, but I can say I’ve found this to be incredibly rewarding, not only for my clients but for me as well. Being an element of positive change is a wonderful thing, especially in a time when many of the changes around us seem so horrible.
Helping people to grow and move past something painful and hard for them has helped me too. I’ve realized that our current worldwide stress, fear, and depression are not permanent because that’s not how life is. In our personal lives and throughout our history as humans, terrible times come, and terrible times go. We have an unshakable ability to overcome and improve. No matter what we go through individually and collectively, hope, beauty, and kindness always, always remain.
All images by Tamea Burd. Used with permission. This interview has been lightly edited for grammar reasons. Be sure to visit Tamea Burd’s website, Instagram and Facebook to learn more. Want to get featured? Click here to see how.
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