Tramaine Seay believes in the importance of remembering others and uncovering what makes each of us memorable. She finds purpose in helping others “remember that they exist” as the days keep passing by. Tramaine currently specializes in professional portraits for pre-schools and childcare centers, but a few years back she was teaching.
Tramaine’s career was in education for many years until her family grew. After her second child, she purchased a camera to begin capturing special moments in their lives and the milestones of her children. It did not take long for her newfound passion to develop deeply and she was staying up many nights teaching herself how to photograph. In a leap of faith, she left her career as an educator in September of 2016 in Schoolcraft College and invested all her time and resources into catapulting a photography business.
The same year Tramaine left her job, she joined our Entrepreneur Training Program 2016–2017 cohort where she picked up necessary tools to help her navigate her journey as a business owner. And by summer 2019, Photography by Tramaine Seay was able to settle into a brick-and-mortar.
The current public health and safety crisis has caused many schools to close down which has resulted in many contract cancellations. Because Tramaine’s photography specializes in children’s portraits, the business lost its main source of revenue and studio. But she keeps her head held high and moving forward.
As a young Black woman and entrepreneur, she has learned to take pride and confidence in what she does. When she first started, she heard a lot of “Oh you’re the photographer?” type of comments in disbelief that she could be great and self-taught. Among many other projects, Tramaine was the photography team leader for TEDxDetroit in 2018 and the Director of Photography in 2019.
Tramaine is optimistic about the future and foresees that summer will be a better time for her. Her goals moving forward include settling back into a studio space, helping other entrepreneurs get back on their feet with digital support and her photography, and continue to seek out contracts with childcare centers.
Connect with Tramaine at teeseayphotos@gmail.com or visit www.tramaineseayphotography.com for more info.
