Hey! How’s everyone today? Thanks for inviting me to Dru’s corner to introduce myself. As Dru might have mentioned, my name is Liv Spyers and I own and run Liv Spyers Photography, a portrait studio in the West Village of New York City.
To give you a quick snapshot of me: My greatest joy has always been taking photos. Some people escape into books. I escape into my camera’s lens. It’s fair to say that a sealed metal box which does no more than capture light and turn it into pixels can inspire me to jump into things I might otherwise have no business tackling. Without it, for example, I might never have landed in New York City.
These days, any time between breakfast and dinner (and late-night snacks), I feel both prosperous and broke, aglow and obscure; basically, I feel like thousands of other Manhattanites trying to turn their dreams into reality. Before I packed up my belongings and crossed the bridge, I was living at home in a quiet suburb of New Jersey where the aesthetic is mostly above ground pools and year-round holiday ornaments. I was working at Starbuck’s after dropping out of college for financial reasons. My friends had moved out and onward, and had even started to indulge in things craft beers instead of PBR. I scraped and saved but joining them seemed impossible on a barista photographer’s income.
My life changed, however, when my grandparents moved their ground-level storefront, Carrera Locksmiths, to a converted space on the first floor of their West Village townhouse. Granny and Poppy bought their four-story brownstone way back in the Seventies when New York City was bankrupt, and you could buy real estate in their area for next to nothing. These days, the buildings around them are renovated to a kick-ass level, and the streets are filled with high-end restaurants and boutiques, but neighbors still need basic services that are less glamorous. With a neon sign that reads Keys in their front window, they’ve run a well-oiled enterprise for decades, but when the cost of never-ending home repairs became too much, they decided to seek the extra income. Enter: Me. In exchange for a small family discount on rent, I also watch my grandparents’ store for them when they need an extra hand.
Keep this between us, I don’t want the building’ department to find out, but I also live in my studio. Like everyone who works from home these days, my morning commute is an easy one. With only a step across the threshold of my tiny bedroom’s door, I leave home-sweet-home and arrive at Liv Spyers Photography, my small portrait photography studio. All that divides my private life and my business is a privacy curtain across my storefront’s window. My studio is a modest-sized, rectangular room which my best friend, Maria, and I painted white from top to bottom the first week I moved in. I constructed a partition which blocks the messy entrance to my bedroom and also works as a backdrop for my client sessions. Add a couple of catchlights to give my clients eyes a little sparkle, a small desk with a visitor’s chair, and a narrow kitchen galley with a fold-out counter on the opposite side of the room, and you have arrived at Liv Spyers Photography.
I consider myself fortunate that my family all think they are getting the better deal in this scenario. Yes, my savings are nearly depleted, and I still have a long way to go before Liv Spyers Photography is New Yorkers’ go-to place for portrait and events photography. And truth be told, I sent my portfolio to every reputable events photography studio when I arrived in New York without receiving even the courtesy of rejections. And no, I haven’t had time to attend all the A-lister parties and fabulous clubs I’d hoped I might have by now.
But. . . in addition to living in a city which inspires my imagination at every step, I have hung my own shingle and declared my ambition to be a portrait photographer. Due to my studio’s street level window display, I’ve had some bookings, and I also have high hopes to expand a head shot business through OneShot.com, which I joined a couple of weeks ago. It’s a one-stop-shop for people to find and book photographers. In exchange for a cut of our jobs, I have access to their customers and a web page where I can showcase my work. With good reviews, I hope to build a new source of income.
As you can probably tell, New York is a place where you need to be ready for anything to happen at any given moment. Having a “typical” day is a sign that you need to kick yourself in the pants before you let the City beat you. Me? I’m going for my shot and looking for my big break. I’m be ready anytime opportunity knocks.
Photo Finished, A Snapshot of NYC Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 2022
Purchase Link
With biting wit, a young lens, and satisfying sleuthing, the first in Christin Brecher’s brand new Snapshot of NYC Cozy Mystery series introduces aspiring photographer Liv Spyer, as she juggles rent on her postage stamp-sized Manhattan apartment, part time work at her grandparent’s Greenwich Village key shop, her #lovelife with a guy who just might be FBI, posting to her thousands of Instagram fans, AND solving the odd murder!
While some people escape into books or music, Liv Spyers escapes through her camera’s lens, which inspires her to jump into things she might otherwise have no business tackling—like moving to New York City. Hustling to make her dreams come true as a portrait photographer, she runs a pocket-sized studio below her grandparents’ West Village brownstone and key shop, where she also lives and works part-time. All of which still has her down to the end of her savings as the holidays approach. Everything changes in a flash, however, when elite events photographer, Regina Montague, invites Liv to shoot with her at New York City’s most exclusive socialite event of the year—the Holiday Debutante Ball! Liv snaps at the opportunity, convinced that a job with Regina will launch her career. But when her fabulous new gig ends with the murder of billionaire Charlie Archibald, her dream job may never develop with Regina framed for murder. Once Liv begins to focus on her photos from the ball, she’s convinced they reveal Charlie Archibald’s real killer. Now, between cracking the world of high society—and the attentions of a handsome stranger—Liv must hustle once again to expose the killer. . .before she gets cropped from the picture!
About the author
Christin Brecher is the author of the Nantucket Candle Maker mystery series and the new Snaphot of NYC mystery series, which debuts with Photo Finished. Christin is a native New Yorker and loves living in a town where you never know what lies around the corner. She is a proud member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.
All comments are welcomed.