ATHENS, Tenn. — Ben Finch, an Athens man, photographs just about everything, everywhere.
The bright lights in the big cities around the world, celebrities, TV premiers, concerts and big company events are just typical jobs for Finch. He runs his whole photography empire out of a small studio in Athens.
Finch was living with his wife and working a typical job when he took a leap and bought a fancy camera.
"It's going to empty our savings account. But she was so patient with that. I was like, 'I promise I'll make our money back,'" Finch said. "We went from a really great paying job to let's just try to buy groceries."
What started as family photo shoots and small weddings quickly kicked up a notch with a big break from an unlikely place—a health insurance company.
"So people were like, 'Oh man, he shoots for Blue Cross Blue Shield,' which led to other things. So, a lot of it was just every year built credibility," Finch said.
The weddings got bigger and bigger.
"I photographed [President] Biden's granddaughter's wedding at the White House," Finch said. "And then I shoot a lot of commercial events. So Hilton is one of my clients and HBO is one of my clients. I've gotten to shoot the Jonas brothers, Dan Levy, Paris Hilton, Katy Perry and Kendrick Lamar. I mean, it's just crazy. I'm like, what am I doing here?"
A hometown guy with big city dreams making it all happen.
"I don't want to forget where I came from and I also want to try to find ways to invest back in this area," Finch said. "I love this community. I love the people here."
You can watch the full interview with Ben Finch below.