If one picture is worth a thousand words, then local photographer Mel Pawl could fill an entire library after 20 years of immortalizing families and individuals with his professional studio portraits.
Pawl, who’s owned and operated Mel Pawl and Co. Photographers since 1983, recently announced plans to permanently close the doors of his 8 N. Washington St. studio in April and begin a well-deserved retirement. “I turned 67 this year and figured it’s time,” said Pawl, who currently resides in nearby Ortonville.
Pawl said he’ll spend his retirement enjoying hobbies such as canoeing and motorcyle riding and spending more time with his family, which includes his second wife, Maryann, five children and 14 grandchildren.
Since Pawl owns the downtown building which houses his studio, he said he intends to lease the three-floor, 6,000-square-foot structure to another business, perhaps another photographer.
When asked what aspect of his business he’ll miss the most, Pawl immediately replied, “The people.”
Over the last two decades, Pawl estimated he’s conducted about 15,000 photo sessions involving portraits of brides and grooms, wedding parties, families, newborn babies and graduating high school seniors.
“I’ve met a lot of nice people in this place,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for nicer customers.”
Pawl is quite proud of the fact that his thousands of photographs form a lasting legacy to his career in Oxford. “I like that I’m leaving something special behind that families will keep for years,” he said.
“Doing a good job” and “pleasing people” have always been Pawl’s top priorities as both a professional photographer and business owner.
Pawl’s devotion to quality work and customer satisfaction are what limited him to no more than five photo sessions per day and prevented him from employing other photographers.
“It’s all my work, nobody else’s,” he said with pride.
Although the official name of the business is Mel Pawl and Co. Photographers, Pawl is, and always has been, the only photographer consistently working at the studio.
“I don’t want to let go. I have a hard time delegating work to other photographers,” he admitted.
During his studio’s history, Pawl said he twice “attempted” to employ other photographers, but in the end “couldn’t get used to it.”
“If my name’s going on something, I’m really fussy about it,” he said. “I have a hard time making excuses for somebody else.”
Pawl said the business’ name denotes multiple photographers because he originally planned to one day sell the studio to another photographer, who could then continue to use the name.
However, he decided against the idea.
“I don’t want to leave my name on the door, if I’m not doing it,” Pawl said.
Although the financial success of Mel Pawl and Co. Photographers has led it to be ranked in the top two percent of studios nationwide for the past eight years, according to surveys by Professional Photographers of America, photography wasn’t a money-making venture for Pawl.
Pawl’s time behind the camera began as a hobby 28 years ago. Nature was his primary subject back then.
An instant camera from his first wife and a canoe trip down a nothern Michigan river sparked Pawl’s interest in the hobby.
He said while on the river one day he spotted an eagle in a tree and quickly snapped a photo of it.
When the photos were developed, Pawl said the eagle looked more like a “big black crow.”
“I thought to myself, ‘I can do better than that.’ After that, things got out of hand and I starting getting money for (my photos),” said Pawl with a chuckle.
Prior to opening his studio at 29 N. Washington Street in 1983, (the business’ location until moving across the street in 1989) Pawl did commercial photography work for General Motors for eight years, taking public relations pictures of cars, parts and company executives.
Over the years, Pawl received his Master of Photography Degree from the Professional Photographers of America and continues to serve on the organization’s Michigan Board of Directors.
Pawl said he plans to stop photographing at the studio sometime between the end of February and beginning of March. After that, he said the business will remain open to fill orders until it formally closes in April.
Of his time in Oxford, Pawl said, “This has been the best place (to own a business) that I could have ever imagined and it just keeps getting better. It’s hard to leave, but I figure it’s time.”