Local emotion: Photographer clicks with community
By Tanya Hoida
For the Northwestern
A small boy wrapped in a white towel peeks sheepishly over a wooden barrel. Click.
The photographer’s five-year-old niece, with a bandana wrapped around her head, peers curiously into the cracks of a worn red barn. Click.
The new owner of Bartell’s Studio on 10th Street, Jennifer Barbian, captures and displays these images in large wooden and metal frames covering the storefront walls. The 26-year-old businesswoman shot most of the photos within the 800 square feet of her studio. Her inspiration stems from the "off-the-wall" portraits of Wisconsin photographer and colleague Darton Drake.
Barbian bought the studio from former co-owners Steve and Julie Peterson in December. After being a business partner in the studio since 1997, the new owner has both the desire and professionalism in the field. While the Petersons prepare their semi-retirement in Kentucky, Barbian takes on her new tasks with the determination and rigor the couple hired her for during her senior year of high school.
Barbian remembers the studio’s history as if they were snapshots of her life.
She rewinds the studio’s film roll to when the business existed in a home. Dawn Bartell sold her photography business to the Petersons in 1974 after deciding she wanted to focus more on her family. The co-owners worked from Bartell’s basement for 12 years but the business grew rapidly. They bought the small building for their studio in a residential area. Before the building had been a lawnmower shop, it had been a dairy. The dairy cooler, covered with a painted cow design, has been kept for the studio’s film, old files and negatives.
The couple had owned the studio for eight years before Barbian first stopped by Bartell’s Studio for her senior photos in 1993. The electronic doorbell rang as she entered, prompting the springer spaniel Misty to scurry through the studio and pop her head above the hinged gate that doubles as a front desk.
"When I met her, oh, she was pretty energetic and she had some guts asking for a job right away," Steve said.
While the amateur photographer already had the enthusiasm, she needed the experience Omro High School couldn’t provide. The school didn’t offer the photo classes or publication experiences she was looking for. The most experience she had were the photos of sunsets she took for the 4-H club when she was nine years old.
Her commitment for photography persuaded the Peterson couple to hire Barbian as Steve’s assistant. While the modest Barbian said it was luck, Steve said he knew he was making a good business choice.
The teenager graduated from high school the same year, buried herself in a summer of wedding photography for the studio and in fall, attended some business classes at UW-Oshkosh. She abandoned her university classes after two years to earn her Professional Photographers of America certification by 1996. While she doesn’t need the certificate to take photos, she said it ensures her clients of her professionalism.
"The job here taught me more than any books could because of the hands-on experience with the equipment and Steve," Barbian stressed as she extended her arm to encompass the highly organized office. "With his guidance, I learned so much more here than in my classes."
Steve said the budding photographer was an eager learner and the natural choice for leadership at the studio. Steve said she helped him stay on top of the use of technology in photography. Barbian said the studio experiments with digital photography by adding, replicating, moving or deleting images in a photo. Barbian said the digital age of photography is scary for studios because it is becoming easier to replicate photo proofs from a session.
Barbian’s evolving business skills earned her a partnership with the couple in 1997 and three years later on Dec. 22, the owner.
"We have so much faith in her. She has proved herself to be the owner because she has been around for nine years," Steve said.
As the owner, Barbian wants to continue to focus her camera on the children in the Oshkosh area. Barbian’s creative business antics as a partner created a unique children promotion with a calendar of portrait themes. Her blue eyes lit up and a small smile crept upon her face as she talked about the children she has photographed. She said she enjoys the new experiences the children bring to her.
"And the shooting is more natural because there are no forced expressions or actions," Barbian declared softly. "They are more emotional and everything they do is so beautiful. They don't need to pose."
"And the children don't talk back," Barbian leaned back in her chair laughing.
Barbian said she keeps an old fuzzy stuffed dog for the children who cry because it makes them smile every time. The energetic blond businesswoman sheds away her maturity as she bounces around the room and occasionally tickles their face with the stuffed animal.
Barbian plans to change an old studio area into a complete children's studio in the next few months.
When she isn't bringing smiles to children's faces, she snaps photos of families, children, senior students and commercial jobs. Barbian said most of the studio’s profit derives from wedding photos because of the large albums and the large sum of senior photos during the summer. Winter months bring slow business for the studio and Barbian said they use that time to prepare for the spring and summer rush.
As Barbian talked about her new business role, she said her best and worst feature is how work-oriented she is. Her assistant, Erika Krause, agreed.
"She takes charge. She will give me a list of things to do and tell me exactly what she expects," Krause said.
Barbian said Oshkosh is a very competitive are with so many photography studios.
"This studio is unique because it is in a residential are vs. the Main Street locations of the other businesses," Barbian said. "We have the only outdoors studio in town for the past five years."
Steve said their customers have grown through word-of-mouth and Barbian’s approach to children’s photography.
Barbian retains her sanity outside the studio by camping with her husband, cousins, and parents throughout Wisconsin's outdoors. She snaps posed and natural family photos during their summer vacations.
A large family gathers in front of an isolated cabin on a warm summer day as their pets run amuck in the long grass. Click.