Jessi Evans-Marcius the designer / photographer was in a quandary.
“The day after I told my work I was pregnant, I lost my job. I had no idea what to do. I started doing freelance photography until my son was born. Then covid hit,” Mrs Evans-Marcius said.
“I was on maternity leave, we were in lockdown, my son couldn’t go to daycare and the photography jobs were few and far between. I started doing some food photography for DoorDash, but realised I couldn’t make the photos look good with bad lighting and a shiny card table in the corner.”
It was there Jessi, as many other still life and food photographers realise – it's not just about the lighting, it's about the backdrops. Finding that paper rolls are OK, but they get trashed easily; or that other established photo brands had decent backdrops, but charged at a premium; she decided to pop down to Spotlight and other local vinyl businesses to see if she could create her own backdrops that were cheaper, double sided and longer wearing.
And this is where the idea the Backdrop Collective was born – out of the need for cheaper, more durable backdrops with a greater range of different colours.
“We were aiming to sell ten backdrops a month to begin with. We sold ten backdrops on our first day and we made $7,500 for our first month,” Mrs Evans-Marcius said.
“We’ve grown so much that we’ve just invested in a new printer so we can do custom backdrops of any length, pattern or print.”
The newfound success has been a complete life changer for Jessi.
“I really struggled with a new baby. I had to learn to let go and adapt to this new life and I had so much anxiety about feeling like I wasn’t doing a good job as a Mum,” she said.
“Having Backdrop Collective was my saviour and my sanity during that hard time.”
Since then Jessi has expanded into supplying other photography props and backgrounds such as stone, mirrors, shaped acrylic and prop stands.
So for any photographers who are searching to update their backgrounds, you might want to check out The Backdrop Collective and help support Australian businesses.