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Art & Life with Everardo Keeme

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Everardo Keeme.

Everardo, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Hello! I am Spanish-American by heritage. My primary work is as a corporate and personal brand photographer in Phoenix. I don’t have a stereotypical romantic story that includes growing up with a camera in my hands. Instead, it was a lifelong love of racing bicycles that got me interested in photography.

Sports and event photography became my first love, and I got my start covering the Amgen Tour of California and the Tour of Utah. Later, I traded lyrca for the lens. Since then, I have served as a primary photographer of the Waste Management Phoenix open since 2010. In 2013, I became a partner at Photo Fusion Studio, a co-op photography studio, and in 2018, sole owner. The studio is now evolving into a larger professional studio that will feature multiple photographers, each with their own specialties. My own talents have grown beyond event photography, corporate headshots, and now, senior high school portraits.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I speak from experience when I say, high school senior portraiture is such an important part of a young teen transitioning to an adult. It’s their time to shine and be proud of their accomplishments. My daughter will be graduating from ASU this month and these past few years have been pivotal in her life.  For parents, this is our chance to remember our beautiful children’s growth while they celebrate the next step as they become adults. Of course, we want to create beautiful artwork for the senior and family to cherish, but it’s more about celebrating this chapter of their lives.

We don’t make our subjects beautiful; we just photograph the beauty within.

It is our desire to make this experience unforgettable. Not just by giving our clients the model treatment with hair and makeup or going to fabulous locations. All of that makes it fun for sure! But really, the BEST PART for us is when a senior sees the first photo from their session, their eyes shine, and they say, “Wow, I really am pretty!”

True beauty doesn’t come from makeup, hairstyles, or clothes; it comes from the heart! It is our goal to infuse confidence in each senior and help them realize how beautiful they really are. Parents always see it (as parents always do), but it is truly a gift when a senior sees it for themselves.

My team and I absolutely love what we do, and it is a JOY to work with each senior and their family in delivering more than just unforgettable photos and a memorable experience.

This is why we only accept a limited number of clients each month so that we can provide great attention and detail to each one of our seniors. Our seniors are NOT a number to us; they are our everything!

Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities, and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
Starving artists starve because they refuse to learn the art of running a business. We cannot ever stop learning. While you have to be a great artist and proficient in your craft, you also have to learn how to run a business. There are countless resources out there to teach people how to set up a business structure (LLC, S-Corp, etc.), understand the cost of goods, sales, marketing, budgets, and so much more. It doesn’t have to be scary, I have been mentored by many, and I, in turn, have helped others through mentorship, and speaking at local and international photography conferences.

The great thing about the artist community is that the majority are willing to help; people just have to ask, listen, and follow the advice of others. I can’t tell you how many times I myself or another speaker at a photography conference has stood on stage and said, “I made mistakes and I’m going to teach you ways to not make the same mistake yourself”—yet I’ve heard from so many others afterward that they didn’t follow the advice and often have burned themselves out or quit their business. I am a firm believer of learning from others and not wasting time or trying to re-invent the wheel, so to speak.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
We are the only senior portrait studio in the Southwest that has a studio and a couture closet! Our closet is stocked with high-end clothing and fashion accessories that we have cultivated exclusively for use by our students.

Much of our work is featured in our Arcadia studio, and we welcome people to stop in for a tour.

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Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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