Meet Jessica Steeves | Fine art, real estate, wedding, event and portrait photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Steeves and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, why did you pursue a creative career?

I knew quite young I wanted to do something in the art field.  For my 6th birthday, I received a pink 110 film camera. After that, there was no doubt I would go into photography. I took that camera with me everywhere. Throughout school, I enrolled in every art class I possibly could. I took all of the film classes there were to offer. I was fortunate enough to grow up in Colorado where there is always something to photograph. I took pictures everyday. Being creative was inherent and I drove myself to learn all I could. By the time I reached high school, it was more than apparent I wanted to work in commercial photography.

Life got going and by the time I was 17, I was on my own. Both photography and school got put on hold, however, my creativity continued to inspire me. I met my husband and had our amazing child during this time. Of course, we all share the same creative spirit. I ended up working some telemarketing jobs, then ultimately ended up waiting tables and bartending. After 20 years of hustling in the service industry, I finally had the time and money to go back to school.

As a hobby, my husband and I had been photographing abandoned buildings for years. I was able to incorporate this into the majority of my photography classes and assignments while working to get my degree. It gave me a space to experiment and develop skills. I used this to my full advantage, including printing my work at 60 x 40 and exhibiting them in a few shows. I was bartending full time, going to school full time, raising my soon to be teenager, and devoting all my free time to our hobby.

Even though my passion is for abandoned buildings, it’s real estate photography and portraits that pay the bills. I absolutely love my job. I get to photograph real estate Monday – Friday with my husband. I have weekend weddings, portraits, and events. And on a side note, we have 2 published books. For more than a decade, we have documented abandoned buildings throughout the state of Texas. So far we have published Abandoned North Texas and Abandoned South Texas. The publisher has signed us up for 2 additional books that will be finished by the end of the year.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

Within 4 years, I had a degree in photography and I was leaving the restaurant industry to pursue my passions full time. Not too long after that, it made sense for my husband to leave his 20 year career for full time photography as well. We have been together for 27 years and over the past 15, we shared the same obsession for searching out and exploring historic and abandoned locations.  There are so many great locations strewn about the vast state of Texas. We get out every chance we can to photograph these historic buildings before they are lost to “progress”. In consequence, people started finding out and showing interest in the years of documentation we have. What started out as a passion for photography, architecture, and history, turned into a full time career.

 It starts with Shane staring at a map, then we drive hours on end to find the next location to photograph. Even our teenage son comes along on our adventures. I’m quite impressed how nicely his photography is coming along. The new generation is all about the Instagram likes and Youtube followers. That’s not the case with us. It’s not about internet fame. When we started doing this, people would always ask why we take photos of trash or if we were ghost hunting. Some people just don’t understand the beauty we see in the decay. As the years went by, more and more people started asking us to take them to the spots that we go. We usually don’t though. We have run into some sketchy stuff over the years. Drug addicts, scrappers, gang members, and vandals are just a few types of people that are commonly found in these places. Not to mention these buildings may collapse at any moment or there’s a huge chance of a nasty fall through a crumbling floor or a rusty nail in the foot. We have also come across bloody weapons, as well as plenty of outright disturbing scenes. We’ve had friends robbed for their equipment and even beat within an inch of their life. Despite all of these occurrences, we continue to seek out and photograph the derelict buildings throughout the state. We have a passion for old architecture and to preserve history with our photographs. It’s a living history lesson that we have learned many people appreciate besides us.

Without really knowing the impact it would have, we amassed an archive of photographs of Texas locations over 15 years.  We published our first book Abandoned North Texas. We did an interview with The Smithsonian.com, a presentation for Preservation Dallas, and hosted several book signings. It did so well, we published our second. Unfortunately, it came out at the beginning of the pandemic and didn’t do as well. However, eventually we had enough response to both books, we knew we needed to do a third. Once we started looking at the amount of content we had, we decided to break it up into 2 more books. I am super excited that these are on the horizon. Hopefully, these two will fill the expectations of everyone seeking our work out. We are excited about our newest projects and everything that’s to come.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It’s been a while since my bestie came out. We both have a weak spot for good sushi and Dave and Buster’s is always a must. Besides that, we would have to check out some of the abandoned buildings in our area. There are so many Texas must sees in our area. There are even a few in the process of being restored to their original grand luxe. It’s exciting to see the past, present and future of an influential building and the impacts it has on the community. We have explored and documented the decay, now we are lucky enough to watch the incredible resurrection. We get out every chance we get to photograph these historic buildings before they are lost to “progress”.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a few photographers in my life that deserve a shout out. It was Noel Kern’s light paintings that sparked our obsession with abandoned buildings. My husband and I took his light painting workshop in 2013. To this day, light painting is still our favorite process. Also, my absolute favorite professor, Byrd Williams, from Collin Community College. He has helped me incorporate abandoned buildings and light painting into my body of work.

Website: www.decayedandabandonedsouth.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decayedandabandonedsouth https://www.instagram.com/jessicasteevesphotography https://instagram.com/steeveshomephotos https://www.instagram.com/squishesound

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-steeves-a492271b5/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/decayedandabandonedsouth www.facebook.com/jessicasteevesphotography www.facebook.com/steeveshomephotos

Image Credits
hubby Shane Steeves.