Amaya Brousseau | 2026 Sawyer J. Boyd Creatives Grant Recipient
Earlier this month, The Sunset Project was honored to announce Amaya Brousseau of Alpena, Michigan, as one of nine Sawyer J. Boyd Creatives Grant Recipients for 2026!
Amaya is a talented photographer whose work focuses on capturing lifes most important moments, from senior portraits and engagements, to newborn sessions and more.
We recently sat down with Amaya to discuss her unique story, why she applied for this year's grant cycle, and what she hopes to use the funding for.
Hey Amanda, can you quickly introduce yourself to those who may not know you?
Hi, my name is Amaya Brousseau, I live in Alpena, and my creative pursuit is photography.
How would you describe your creative interest to someone unfamiliar with it?
The way I would describe photography to someone who is unfamiliar with it would be capturing important moments and raw emotions through a camera.
What initially inspired your interest in this space?
My grandparents both used to be photographers so that kind of sparked my interest at first. When I was gifted my camera during covid, I started to learn and teach myself how to use it and that’s when I fell in love with it.
What's one of your most memorable experiences or milestones from your creative journey?
The most memorable experiences in my journey are definitely my firsts. My first senior photos session, my first engagement shoot, my first newborn session, etc. I love broadening my experiences and learning how to shoot new things.
How have challenges or setbacks helped shape your creative process?
As my body went through lots of difficult changes throughout my medical treatments, I tend to hide from cameras due to a lack of confidence. This makes me more aware when capturing others to make sure I do whatever I can to make them feel confident behind my lens. I tend to ask questions before shoots such as “is there a certain side of your face you like more” since I have one due to my jaw surgeries on one side. Asking those types of questions are important to me to make sure everyone feels confident when receiving their photos.
How do you envision your creative interest evolving over the next year?
With new additions to my equipment, I hope to see a big increase in the quality of my images which I am super excited about. I hope to still be doing as many photoshoots as I am this year and maybe more! Over the last two years I have had a big increase in bookings which makes me overjoyed and I hope to continue to grow.
How do you plan to utilize your grant funding to further your creative interest, journey, and process?
The new camera I plan to buy is a huge upgrade compared to the one I have now. I’m excited to see the increase in quality of my images.
Do you have any advice to share with someone looking to pursue their own creative interests?
The advice I would give to others would be to always try. Try to start something new, try to improve in any way you can. Try even when you don’t know what you’re doing. At the start of my journey I honestly had zero clue what I was doing, but I tried anyway and I am so glad I did.
Are there any social media profiles, websites, or other resources where our readers can follow your journey and support your work?
My main social media is @amayabphotography on Instagram which is where I post all of my work and where you can message me to set up a shoot!
Is there anything else you'd like to share about The Sunset Project, or your experience in the Sawyer J. Boyd Creatives Grant program thus far?
I just hope others continue to use this incredible organization to also help follow their dreams as much as it is going to help mine.
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