Three SMU students combined their entrepreneurial skills to create an inexpensive and convenient way to make photographs available for students and parents.
Juniors Connor Bell, Mike Alberts and Will Asmundson’s original focus was on photographing athletic events and the visual arts with the idea that parents who could not attend events or games could access the photos.
After more collaboration, the three decided they wanted to concentrate on student organizations, specifically Greek life.
“We are focused on parents and students looking for a cost effective and convenient service,” Bell said.
What makes Fratty Photos different from other photography services, such as Flash Photography, is the way it operates.
“It’s essentially a club,” Alberts said. “You pay a membership fee and then get the photos we take of you.”
Parents and students have two options: they can either pay $20 per semester or $5 per event.
After an event, the photographs are screened, eliminating any unflattering or embarrassing pictures. Photos with alcohol are also excluded.
Photos are directly uploaded to Facebook and people are tagged through facial recognition software.
“A lot of students want digital photos. And they don’t want to spend a lot of money,” Bell said.
Fratty Photos strives to provide inexpensive but professional quality photographs.
Currently, photography students from The Meadows School of the Arts photograph the events. However, Fratty Photos is accepting applications for photographers outside of Meadows.
Since September, they have been working on their website, meeting with SMU’s Panhellenic Council and The Meadows School of the Arts and covering a handful of events.
Alberts, Asmundson and Bell created Fratty Photos as a business that gives back to the community. Each year, 20 percent of all profits will go to Meadows in the form of a scholarship.
“We want it [Fratty Photos] to be for the students by the students,” Alberts said. “It’s a cool way to give peers pictures of themselves while giving back to the community and our school.”
This semester, Fratty Photos covered events such as Pi Beta Phi’s mom’s luncheon, Tri Delta Triple Play and IFC events.
In the future, they would like to expand their services by working with other campus organizations.
“We hope to use the business to cultivate entrepreneurial ambition among those who we work with,” Alberts said.
At present, they are working on expanding Fratty Photos to other schools. They have already started business plans with the University of Alabama and Rollins College. Each school that adopts Fratty Photo’s plan is required to give a minimum of 20 percent to the school for a scholarship. Though all three are graduating in a year, they still plan on working as administrators.
“It’s really taught us what it’s like to be an entrepreneur,” Bell said. “We want to help more students learn what it’s like balancing school and a business.”
Finance and economic major, Asmundson is responsible for the financial side of Fratty Photos; Alberts, a markets and culture and English major, works primarily with marketing the business; Bell majors in business marketing and environmental science and focuses on building the website.
“It’s been an unbelievable learning experience,” Asmundson said. “Our strengths really help each other.”
