Get to Know the Photographer: Grace Peguese

Grace Peguese is a third-year Public Policy major and, more importantly (sorry, UChicago), a photographer who drives a bright red 1997 Saab 900. It doesn’t have a name, but it’s so amazing it might not need one. 

As we wandered 57th Street, Dorchester, Kenwood, 58th, we started chatting, and I asked her how she got into photography. “My mom gave me my first camera,” she said, smiling, “she was kind of the family photographer.” Grace is from Michigan, and when her extended family gathered at her grandmother’s house, as they often did, her mom would move from group to group with her camera. “She’s really incredible at capturing moments.

I think that’s what all photographers are trying to do, really – capture moments.”

When she first started taking photos with a DSLR, Grace’s main focus was architecture. She still loves the beauty in buildings – as we passed a rounded, neutral-pink toned house, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a few shots in front of it – and since her junior year of high school Grace has had a freelance photography business. Her true passion, though, lies in street photography. “I don’t usually include people’s faces,” she told me as we stood in line for coffee at the Med Bakery. She doesn’t feel comfortable sharing her subjects’ identities in that way, especially if the viewer has no way of getting to know them. 

Every now and then we stopped in front of a house, fence, or set of stairs that caught Grace’s eye, and she gave me an idea of her vision for the location. We would shoot for a few moments, adjusting levels, poses, exposure, focus, and then she would click through the photos to see which had turned out well. When she was satisfied, we continued. 

Working with her was effortless. She is easy to talk to and flexible, and she welcomed my input on shots, even when it was silly (case in point: I wanted to throw leaves up over my head, and she snapped some photos as they floated down around me). 

On our way back to her car, we talked about the more technical aspects of her photography. She said that she doesn’t consciously think about the composition of her photos – the way she frames her subjects is instinctive. I told her that seemed like a pretty rare gift, but she brushed off the praise.

Grace has some advice for aspiring photographers, too:

“one of the most important things is finding and trusting your own style. It can be really easy as a young creative to try to imitate others you look up to, but I think it’s more sustainable in the long term (and also healthier for you) if you trust in your work without comparing it to that of others.”

She says that though some aspects of photography come naturally to her, it’s important for new photographers to learn the basics “like composition, lighting, how to use manual functions.” If you don’t get a solid grounding in those, “it doesn’t really matter if you have the most expensive camera and the most expensive lenses, or if you have a starter camera.”

I had one final question as we rounded the corner back to her car. “Is your mom proud of your work?” She smiled, and I saw how much the woman who inspired her love of photography means to her. “Yes,” she replied. “She is.”

Want to see more of Grace’s work? Check out her website and Instagram (@gpeg_photography)!