Artist Statement
I am a Photographer, a Mother, and an Environmentalist. My photographic talents have a documentary style and often cross over into the realm of Fine Art imagery. I have learned to dance back and forth between creating intimate portraits with people and nature and also documenting beautifully what many people don’t even notice around them. I tend to not use a lot of lighting or production in my art. Instead I use the available light and shadows as my paintbrush.
Although trained in traditional film and darkroom processing skills, today I prefer the digital medium using a high resolution digital back on my Hasselblad 503. I am rarely without a camera and use whatever is on hand to capture images, sometimes with my BlackBerry cellphone or a small Canon pocket camera. This website has a mix of film and digital images to appreciate. I am a firm believer that it's the photographer that captures the photo not the camera.
As a mother I use photography to illustrate personal relationships. Intimate emotions captured forever because someone was there to see it and preserve that moment. Fleeting moments of motherhood, childhood, parenthood, and life’s sweet moments.
As an Environmentalist my photographic skills tell the stories that need to be told. We all want to see images of beautiful sunsets and beaches and to be reminded of how amazing the sky looks just before it’s about to rain. We also need to see what our everyday actions are doing to our planet and our environment. I want to lift the consciousness of how much our planet needs our attention. I became a certified Scuba Divemaster after my Undersea class at Brooks Institute and creating undersea images has become a passion of mine. I am hooked on the majesty of the open ocean and incredible world beneath the waves and tidal pools.
Biography
Amy was introduced to the art of photography in her Southern California high school like so many others. She settled on the lofty aspiration of "being a photographer" when she finished high school. She continued her studies in college and became a staff photographer for her college newspaper.
Amy went back to college at the age of 26 to pursue a career as a photographer. She enrolled at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA and began a journey that would take her so much further than she ever dreamed.
In her third and final year at Brooks, Amy learned to scuba dive and had the incredible opportunity to be in the Undersea class taught by Ralph Clevenger. Upon graduation in December 2003, Amy has continued to dive and perfect her undersea images.
In June 2004, she traveled to Ecuador to dive the Galapagos Islands for two weeks. Later that year she began working as the Digital Studio Supervisor for Brooks Institute and enjoyed a rewarding mix of learning the latest digital capture technology as well teaching it to the students.
In 2005, Amy relocated to Los Angeles where she currently resides with her husband and daughter. She spent 3 years working full-time as a Digital Tech for commercial photographers and teaching digital techs training classes for Leaf to people wanting to become a digital tech in the industry. Amy continues to create her own style of fine art photography that mixes undersea, nature images, and photo journalism into some incredibly unique imagery.