We had the good fortune of connecting with Marcia Ward and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Marcia, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
My work life balance has always had a fluid integration. When I started with the
Image Maker in 1992 I also had a young family. The studio was a mile from my
home and we maintained more of a nine to five, Monday through Friday lifestyle.
We moved the studio in 2007 to a location that was perhaps ten miles from home.
In that scenario our children were no longer living at home and being at work was an all day commitment. Having work that far away became a struggle and in 2017 we built a studio at our home and repurposed a room in our home to become an office. I was reluctant how this might evolve, as I had always “gone to work.” Working from home turned out to be a perfect lifestyle change.
Everything was so much more convenient.
When it was Edwin and I working at the Image Maker we maintained a lovely
schedule that included the normal type of things like taking a break for meals.
Without him, I work as much as work will have me. Having the Image Maker
during my recovery from losing him is my saving grace. I have a lot more to do
with the accounting and financial responsibilities. The Image Maker is my top
priority and it always comes first. I have to keep working all the angles in order to keep it viable. My goal is to keep it going for another five years and I have plans to possibly add a new component to our services.
What should our readers know about your business?
The Image Maker is perhaps Colorado’s oldest operating commercial photography studio. When Warren Blanc founded the studio in the
1960’s he was one of three photographers working commercially in
Denver. Most advertising agencies and commercial photographers were
on the East and West coasts but Warren forged his way with some big
corporate clients such as Pentax, Martin Marietta, and the Colorado
Lamb Council. He also became available to the small circle of artists in
the region and specialized in the photography of fine art: both paintings
and bronze sculpture. When Ed and I purchased the studio in 1992 there
were perhaps thirty commercial studios and advertising photographers in
Denver. Today, there are over 200 commercial photographers however,
very few still actually have a studio. So I’m very proud of the fact the
Image Maker has weathered the switch from film to digital and that we
have managed to keep the studio going affording me the ability to have a
career that I love.
I would credit a great deal of our success to having purchased an
existing business. With that came a client base and a corporation which
provided the business structure. Many aspects of the photography
business have changed since our beginning. We have down-sized our
studio three times and while we still have some prestigious corporate
and non-profit clients our work is mostly with artists and weddings.
I love working with creative artists: it’s always thrilling to see the talent,
skill and creativity that goes into making art. In my role as an art
consultant, I help artists to apply for public art commissions. That
process results in mostly rejections. My belief is there is an abundance
of competition, but when we are able to land a commission, it is
thrilling. For example, in 2020 I was able to submit a proposal for a
commission with the University of Colorado at Denver wherein one of
my clients, the bronze sculptor and renowned animalier, Dan
Ostermiller, won the commission from a national search. Ostermiller’s
eight foot tall bronze Lynx is installed on the Auraria campus and
anchors a memorial plaze where a number of new buildings stand. The
Emmanuel Gallery hosted a month long retrospective and created a short
film that chronicled his forty years of a storied career along with a
documentary on how the Lynx sculpture came to fruition. While The
Image Maker’s role was not in the forefront it was the fact that Dan
began his career when Warren owned the Image Maker and that he has
stayed with the Image Maker my entire career. We archived all of the
imagery we had created for him over that time. Through our
collaboration we were able to bring a public art work to Denver that
should be around for several generations.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My commercial photography studio, the Image Maker, has undergone a major transformation in the past few months. My husband Edwin, and I
purchased the studio from a retiring photographer in 1992. Together we
have been able to keep the business vital over three decades, which took
a lot of creativity and diversification as the photo business changed
dramatically with the evolution from film to digital. Edwin was the
business manager and took care of all the financials including the
corporate accounting. Edwin was also a minister and performed
hundreds of wedding ceremonies as part of the Image Maker offerings. I
am the photographer and together our business model has been
successful. One aspect of our relationship was that when we married
forty four years ago we wanted a lifestyle that kept us together, both
professionally and as a family. The Image Maker allowed us to live our
dream. Ten years ago, Edwin was diagnosed with a progressive lung
disease ten years ago and for nine of those years he was able to continue
a productive working lifestyle. In 2022 he retired and began
transitioning his responsibilities to me. Sadly, he passed in February
2023.
I am now on a solo journey with the Image Maker, but the foundation he
built for the business lives on. It is my career as a photographer, art
consultant and wedding officiant along with the new challenges of being
an accountant and financially responsible for keeping the business
moving forward, that has kept me stable and shepherds me through one
of the biggest challenges in life.
Edwin had an intelligence and creativity that allowed him to accomplish
just about anything he set his mind to. He was inspired by both Bob
Dylan and Albert Einstein. He had an amazing amount of energy. Not
only did he take on all that I have already mentioned, but he was a
writer, publisher, entertainer, watercolorist, playwright, actor, baseball
organizer and coach, father and grandfather. It is his indominable spirit
that I now have incorporated into my daily life.
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.
Our first stop would be the Mercury Café. For Edwin and me, the Mercury has been our go to place. a unique and delicious menu, a chalk-
full calendar of happenings that include theater, live music, dance and
spoken word events. For ten years (2010 – 2020) Edwin and I produced
and hosted a monthly event entitled, Stories Stories Bring Your Stories.
Six storytellers telling original stories along with dinner, drinks and
socializing with friends and lovers of language was our version of a
perfect date night. We have had many a splendid evening collaborating
with Mercury founder Marilyn Megenity who brought so much art and
culture to Denver.
A great way to experience Denver is via Denver’s public art collection.
One can see the whole city by visiting a variety of great sculptures that
are scattered in popular places as well as tucked in more out of the way
places.. Sculpture is a passion of mine and during my lifetime of
experiencing Denver, I have the public works stowed away in my
consciousness. The tour would include historical sculptures that
chronical how Denver became a great city in the West as well as
contemporary sculpture that highlights Denver’s most modern
collection. When I think of certain areas of Denver I think of the
sculptures. For example: The Thatcher Memorial Sculpture and the
Darlington Sculpture in City Park, Herbert Beyer’s Reticulated Wall in
Denver’s Design Center, Lawrence Argent’s Big Blue Bear at the
Colorado Convention Center and Dan Ostermiller’s Scottish Angus Cow
& Calf at the Denver Art Museum.
A more out of the way sculpture tour would be up Coal Creek Canyon to
Blackhawk and beyond to the Dory Hill Cemetery. Here lies a legendary
Denver poet, James Ryan Morris whose tombstone was created by
another celebrated Colorado artist, Angelo DiBenedetto. The tombstone
was made to be as tall as JRM, reminiscent of a poet’s lyre, and
incorporates the phases of the moon. As the sun moves so do the
shadows change within the concave curve of the sculpture. Now that we
are in the mountains and any direction we are bound will take us to more
interesting and beautiful places.
Website: https://www.theimagemaker.qwestoffice.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImageMakerWeddings
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marciaward7685 and https://www.youtube.com/@marciaward8689
Image Credits
All Photos by Marcia Ward/the Image Maker