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Printer-Friendly ModeTurning passion into cash
SVSU student incorporates photography and other art to get a head start on career
March 17, 2008 —
Going to school isn't quite enough for fine arts senior Nicole Pfeiffer. While balancing her classes at SVSU, she manages to find time to work with a number of different artistic activities.
"I have to at least try everything once," she said.
Pfeiffer has been involved with art all of her life. She has won awards for different pieces of her work and has been actively involved since middle school. There, she designed t-shirts and, once she got to high school, she became a part of the yearbook and newspaper staff.
Upon entering SVSU, Pfeiffer planned on taking classes geared towards graphic design. She had the opportunity to work on many jobs,which included designing Web sites and graphics; however, photography initially kept her interest, and has for the past three years.
Pfeiffer does freelance portrait work and wedding photography in addition to being a student.
"Photography challenges me and has introduced me to some amazing people that I otherwise wouldn't have met," she said.
Though photography is what motivates her every day, Pfeiffer also continues to do vector art or computer graphic art, painting, jewelry making, polymer clay sculptures, writing horror novels, and re-selling vintage clothes. She hopes to put up the vintage items she has found, along with some of her jewelry, up on her Web site, NikkiFaith.etsy.com, once she has time.
Pfeiffer is currently working with Shaun Banghurt in a directed study focused on digital photography. It centers on fashion photography and studio lighting. Her project is on the 10 plagues from the Bible. Using 10 different models, Pfeiffer wants to portray the plagues in the time period from the 1940s to the mid-80s without making them too religious based. She uses props, does her own hair and make-up, and is also supplying the clothes for each photo shoot. She hopes to display this work in her Bachelor of Fine Arts show.
Pfeiffer's love for the work she does has helped her come this far and she doesn't plan on changing her major anytime soon. Outside of school, she gets her work by word of mouth and so far it has worked out for her. If she can continue to get work, she figures she is successful.
"As long as I'm happy doing what I am doing, then going someplace isn't an issue," she said. "Though having images published in a magazine wouldn't hurt my feelings either."
Hoping to graduate in a year, Pfeiffer plans to move to Ann Arbor with her husband working out of the house with a make-shift studio until she is able to get a real one.
"I plan to have my own photography studio in the next few years and to just be happy."