Vince Chaigne is a photographer living with his wife in Westminster. His mother was an art major in college and became a graphic designer. She eventually became a photography teacher at a magnet school in Connecticut. He grew up with art.
In high school, Chaigne was inspired by taking photographs for the theater. He aspired to be an elementary education teacher and attended Northwestern Connecticut Community College. But while he was in college, Chaigne started taking a lot of photography courses and design courses. He did some photography for a high school photography company, taking school activity pictures for the yearbook. He also took pictures for a local theater.
When Chaigne was attending community college, he interned for a Connecticut State Representatives doing graphic design and photography for promotional purposes.
When Chaigne was ready to graduate, a representative from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago attended his thesis exhibition. The representative told Chaigne his work was eligible for the merit scholarship for the school. Chaigne applied and got accepted for early admission in 2010.
While attending SAIC, Chaigne had the opportunity to intern for the School of Ballet in Chicago and designed their ads that were placed on trains in Chicago.
One of his most interesting experiences was taking photos when Macy’s had a sculptor create an image of one of the dancers.
Chaigne also worked for Chris Genter, one of the top 10 up-and-coming furniture designers in Chicago. Chaigne took photographs for catalogs. Three of Chaigne’ s photographs were chosen for the back cover of the Design Bureau magazine. Design Bureau magazine features stories on photography, architecture, technology, interior design, graphic design and fashion with a global view.
Chaigne also did photography for Felicia Ferrone, who was also one of the top 10 glassware designers in Chicago at the time. His photographs were used for advertisement purposes.
Chaigne also learned a lot from Louis Kostiner, a fine art architectural photographer. He was a tough teacher, but one of the favorite things he said was, “Why are you still here? Almost none of you are going to make it in this field. Go get a career that will give you money and pay you something to live off of. In 10 years, I will not see any of you working in the field.
“People hated him for that,” Chaigne said. “The school did not like it either because he told every student that walked through his door that you are wasting your time. In the end he was not wrong. I have seen a lot of people wash out. I am the only one in my class still working in photography. He was honest. His stepfather made Kostner photographic development equipment.”
“I got really fortunate in college and took a summer class with a visiting instructor named Kirk Gittings,” Chaigne recalled. “He is a fantastic architectural photographer from New Mexico. I learned from the best. In his three-week class, I learned the basis for his business of real estate photography.”
Chaigne graduated in 2013 and moved back to Connecticut. He worked for a sign company and did not photograph for a full year after college because he was burnt out. He worked for different trades and made his way.
Then Chaige opened up a traditional studio but did not follow the rules of location, location, location so it did not pan out for him.
Chaigne moved to New Haven and began to do real estate photography. Over the next few years, Chaigne photographed over 600 houses a year.
Chaigne met his wife, Elizabeth, at that time and got married last October in Frederick. Since his wife is from Frederick, she took a job offer in November in Rockville.
His wife works 90 percent remotely and wanted to be an hour from work or less. Chaigne got out a map. He likes small towns because he values community. He did not want a town too small or did not have commerce.
“I looked all around at populations and gross incomes and found Westminster. It has grocery stores, shopping and a rural lifestyle,” Chaigne said.
Chaigne brought his real estate photography business to Carroll County and its environs. He joined the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. The results are much better.
Chaigne has also added another aspect to his business by offering branding subscription packages. He provides businesses with the photos and videos they need for their print and social media marketing.
There is a big difference in taking a photograph in a controlled environment than going into an unknown environment and getting great results every time.
“I really like the social aspect of photography. I like meeting new people and not being in an office. I like the challenge of it and the creativity,” Chaigne said.
He can be contacted at 860-309-8155 or by email at [email protected].
Lyndi McNulty is the owner of Gizmo’s Art in Westminster. Her column, An Eye for Art, appears regularly in Life & Times.
