THE STORY BEHIND
GRACE MANLEY PHOTOGRAPHY
Get to know me
Growing up, my family moved around a lot. I have three siblings, a childhood full of memories and only a handful of photographs to show for it. The ones I do have? I treasure them with everything I've got. They're proof that we were there, that we were little, that we were together.
That's exactly why I do this.
When you work with me, you're not working with someone who simply points a camera at your family. You're working with a mom who has sat in the exact seat you're in, who knows that kids don't cooperate on cue, that parents want to look natural (not stiff), and that the in-between moments are often the most beautiful ones of all.
I know how to read a two-year-old's mood. I know what matters most to parents. And I know that a great family photo isn't just a picture. It's a piece of time you get to hold onto forever.
"I think i can. i know i can"
How it all began
Night after night, I'd read my daughter The Little Engine That Could - "I think I can, I think I can, I know I can." At the time, I was a mom who was obsessed with getting beautiful family photos. As hard as it was to wrangle two small kids for a shoot, the results were always, without fail, worth every bit of money and effort.
After every session, I'd think: I could do this. That quiet voice got louder and louder until the day I grabbed my camera, photographed the kids myself, and those photos ended up on our Christmas cards that year. The compliments poured in.
That was the moment I stopped thinking and started doing.
Since then, I've trained at the Chicago Photography School, built relationships with mentors across the industry, and devoted myself to mastering the craft, all while raising two little girls who remind me every single day why this work matters.
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