Welcome! I'm Maggie, the photographer behind Studio 1170.

Photography is an art form I’ve loved since I took my first photography class in high school. Back then I was using my dad’s old Minolta camera, taking black and white film and developing it in the darkroom. What a magical process all of that was! 

I worked in fashion in New York City for several years, then moved to Brussels, Belgium, working in art and graphic design for a few years before returning to the US with our young daughter. Becoming a mother changed me in many ways I wasn’t expecting—even I was surprised that I would end up wanting to stay at home and eventually move back to my hometown in Ohio to be close to my family. And as time passes, I’ve also been surprised how many different feelings I’ve experienced when it comes to documenting our life. There seems to be such pressure to have the right image at the right time. 

Often I find that getting out the phone/camera changes the mood, and distracts the kids from the beauty of the moment. I’ve also felt some regret over forgetting to have others document some of the special moments; there were some sadly-lit portraits at Christmas, gaps in the growth of the kids (anyone else miss doing those monthly first-year pictures?!), and no pictures of me holding my second child right after she was born. Then, what to do about getting these images out of the computer and into albums or onto the walls for the kids to actually enjoy as they grow up? I’m still figuring out an efficient way to accomplish this… there can be so much overwhelm!

What I love about a true, candid family photograph is that it captures a moment that we don’t see in normal life— especially with fast-moving children, we rarely get to freeze a moment and reflect on the relationships and connections within the family. How often are we all in the frame together? Do we get to see the true beauty of our whole family at any given moment in time? 

I feel compelled to encourage others to have their families documented. To include grandparents, aunts and uncles, close friends, too. Life is ever-changing and the photos we don’t make time to take are lost opportunities that we won’t get back. Most of us have a camera roll filled with images of our children, but how many are high quality shots of the whole family enjoying life together? That’s exactly what I would love to create for you.

Some other fun facts about me:

  • I love languages. I studied Spanish in high school, and learned some Italian during studies abroad in Rome and Urbino, Italy. In college I reluctantly dropped French because I was failing and then ended up marrying a Frenchman. Funny how life goes sometimes!
  • Nonfiction books are my favorite thing to read… I’m drawn to biographies, business and psychology, parenting, enneagram and other personality tools. I am often reading several at once.
  • I’m always signing up for some kind of online classes… art, business, photography… the list goes on.
  • We are homeschooling our six year old daughter and plan to do the same with our two year old.
  • I enjoy sewing. With all the current busy-ness of life and two young children, I don’t make time to do much more then hem a curtain or patch a knee, but I always have a long list of projects I’d like to start.
  • I’m a watercolor artist and have illustrated a book! You can find it here. And my Etsy shop can be found here. 

Are you ready to commit to preserving your family’s current moment-in-time? Maybe you want to let me take the overwhelm out of getting your pictures printed, send me a message at: [email protected].

I can’t wait to work with you!