Hi, lovely friends. This is me - photographer, beach lover, curator, dog mom. I begged my mom for her camera when I was 5 and made wonky pictures of my stuffed animals (and put them in an album with backwards crayon numbers in the margins...I'm really proud of that). I grew up in Asia and moved to Seattle for high school. I was SUPER out of place culturally (even though I'm an Irish/Italian girl from Brooklyn by birth) and the darkroom became my sanctuary space. I basically hung out in the dark, playing with light, and that's how I found my voice as a young woman.
Fast forward 27 years (gosh, that went by quickly!) and I've built a whole life around this beautiful art form. For many years, I was the program director at a photo school. I basically spent all day dreaming up fun classes and finding artists to teach them. I curated shows for our gallery, too - and started serving as a portfolio reviewer at photo festivals. Then, I worked @Photolucida, where we helped photographers connect with gallerists and publishers. I taught my first photo class to "at-risk" teens when I was just 19 (and so tiny I probably looked 12), and I've been teaching ever since. Photography has always been my guiding passion, my soul food, my growth edge, my insight practice.
Here's what feels important: I believe there are no rules in art and vision matters way more than gear (WAY more!). I believe art is rich practice for life. It teaches us to say what we really think, to show how we feel, to tap into subtler emotions, to find joy in things we'd otherwise overlook (the light is seriously amazing on my foot right now). I believe strong images are the ones that make your heart sing (they're not the ones that dutifully follow rules, so if you're knocking yourself out trying to get it "right," you can take a deep breath and recalibrate back to your own gorgeous inner knowing). I believe you already are the artist you're waiting to become - and you can step into your full power at any time. Like, today. You’ve got this. Anyway, I just thought I’d show up here and introduce myself. Thanks for sharing this journey with me. I'm happy you're a companion on the path. Love and light to you!