Meet William Bourret | Freelance Photographer

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

Hi William, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I was barely into my freshmen year of high school when I realized that if I wanted to be able to provide for myself, I would have to find a way to earn money. Seeing that I didn’t really want to have a job knowing that I wouldn’t enjoy it, I wanted to be unique and create my own business. The only thing that I knew about starting my business was something that I was passionate about, which was art. At first, I started out by doing custom art commissions for people around school and church where I was able to earn some money, but not what I was hoping for. In the Summer of 2023, I decided that I wanted to branch my business to photography. I have always had an interest in photography as I would take my mother’s camera and take photos of anything that I found interesting. I did start out with my phone camera, which was a good camera, but I needed to have an upgrade if I wanted people to take me seriously. I’m currently using my mother’s camera while I’m trying to raise enough money to buy my own set.

My business name, which is “Meowart,” actually has a funny story. Growing up, I was always around my pet cats. I absolutely adore the animal and have shown slight obsession over the years. I took “meow” from cats because I wanted to have something that represented what I love and I took art, the thing that I was going to be doing for people and put them together creating “Meowart.” I knew this name would raise an eyebrow or two, but I didn’t really care because I was finally getting my business up and running and felt proud of it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art in traditional form is just drawing and fine paper. My style is really simple. It’s just black and white, but I also try for a little bit of realism. However, I do add some cartoon aspect on the piece because I feel like it wouldn’t be authentic of who I am as an artist. As for my photography, I love using natural light and the poses I have my clients do are them being genuine to each other. Capturing real interactions is what I think is key for a beautiful composition.

I’m most proud of being able to share my work online on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. I love the idea of someone seeing my work and thinking to themselves, “This person is gifted. I hope they can become very successful.” It also allows me to be exposed to other photographers online and see how they operate their business and see if I can learn from them. It wasn’t easy getting to where I am because you have to overcome rejection with people saying “no,” or just staying motivated. The main lesson that I learned is that don’t ever give up on your dreams. Keep pursuing them because you’ll make it someday.

The main thing I want the world to know about me and my business is that I worked hard on it, and I showed dedication in accomplishing it. I also want the world to know is that being passionate about what you love to do goes a long way because others can feel that, and it can also inspire them to be more passionate in things they love to do.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some of my favorite spots in Fort Collins is the downtown area or Old Town as we call it. There’s a wide variety of things to do and it’s just a fun place overall. The three places that I find essential to anyone visiting are Rocket Fizz, Mary’s Mountain Cookies, and Totally ’80s Pizza. These three places are some of the first places that I explored when I first moved into the area. It was a fun experience so if anyone comes to visit, these places are my highest recommendations. Aside from those spots, Old Town Square is a really fun place. There’s a splash pad for the summer and it’s surrounded by some of the best restaurants and stores that you can browse in. There’s also a community piano for my fellow piano players.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many people who helped inspire me to do this with advice like “Follow your dreams,” but one of my best friends at the time, JC, was doing their own art commissions and I thought that it would be really cool to follow in my friend’s footsteps. JC is extremely talented in art, and I wanted to learn from them. It was a really cool experience asking JC on how I should run my business and what I should expect. JC also helped me with pricing and started me off small knowing that I didn’t really want to take people’s money from them. The advice they gave me was incredible. They said, “Don’t be afraid of what others think of your art. Think of what YOU think about your art because you are the one making it.” What my friend said stuck with me and I just want to thank them for that because I wouldn’t be where I am today without their help.

Website: https://meowartphotography.wordpress.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meowartcommissions.photography/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bourret-5b0152320/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Meowart/100095668835618/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/meowart-photography-fort-collins

Image Credits
All by me

William Bourret at Meowart