During the early years of the pandemic, many photographers found themselves scrambling to replace work that had disappeared due to cancelled weddings. They also had to think about resetting their business model. Allie Siarto, who is based in East Lansing, Michigan, and had worked as a wedding photographer before 2020, began taking head shots and imagery for brands and small businesses. Then she had an epiphany—divorce photography.

She noticed that many of the women who hired her had recently gone through divorces. “They were looking to start a new chapter,” Siarto says. “They used [launching a brand] as a way to get the ball rolling.”

In fact, there were 630,505 divorces in 2020. Although the pandemic can be blamed for the end of many marriages, in truth, the number of divorces was slightly less than predicted in the early days of quarantine.

Even still, like death and sex, divorce is a fact of life in the 21^st century. Siarto quickly realized that launching a divorce photography package could really benefit her business and allow her to spend more time working in her studio as opposed to traveling for weddings. “We naturally think of photos when we think of weddings,” she says. “But we can still honor ourselves at other points in our lives, even when a marriage ends.”

To launch her divorce photography business, Siarto photographed a close friend who had recently gone through a divorce. “It didn’t hurt that she’s the most beautiful person both inside and out,” she laughs. Using the resulting photographs as sample images, she began offering divorce photography packages on her website in February of 2022. The basic package, which includes guidance on hair, make-up and styling—Siarto works with clients on choosing a wardrobe using the website Style & Select—as well as a 30-minute studio photography session and a few retouched photographs, costs $400. She keeps the prices deliberately affordable, knowing that many of her subjects are going through complicated financial situations due to their divorces. In fact, women’s household incomes fall as much as 41% after a divorce, as compared to men’s household incomes, which drop only 23%.

Siarto notes that divorce photography falls into a similar category as boudoir photography, in the sense that it’s meant to empower the subject. After a session, she says, she can visually see the confidence coming off her clients, especially if they’ve had their hair and make-up done.

The difference, she notes, is that while boudoir photography is meant to be kept private, divorce photographs can be shared with friends and on social media. “It’s empowerment that can be made public,” she says, noting that clients often use images from their divorce sessions to change their profile pictures on social media and dating sites, and sometimes even to market themselves professionally on LinkedIn.

Currently, divorce photography makes up only about 5-10% of Siarto’s regular business, according to her estimations. However, doing a divorce photography session with a client often leads to other business, including being hired to shoot a divorced woman’s new brand. As a result, Siarto can spend a lot more time based at home with her family, including her two young daughters. Although she would be open to photographing the right wedding, she is no longer dependent on weddings to keep her business afloat.

And her idea is catching on in the public imagination, as well. Currently, there are 8.3 billion views under the category “divorce photographer” on TikTok, which features content from professional wedding photographers who do divorce sessions including Andrea Evans. And on Instagram, photographers post divorce sessions that include the entire family, including children and former spouses, all in an attempt to normalize the end of unions in the same way that we, as a culture, normalize the beginnings of them.

Time will tell if divorce photography has staying power in the photo industry, but really, how could it not? In the meantime, Siarto is enjoying being known as ‘the divorce photographer’ in her community. “A friend of mine was going through a divorce, and someone forwarded her one of my images with the note, ‘Have you heard of this divorce photographer?’” she laughs. “People really connect with the idea, and it’s such a fun thing to be a part of.”

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