Sarah Shepherd, Sarasota
Member Since March 2008
Artist Statement Currently, I am a photographer taking a detour as a middle school history teacher. My current camera of choice is my Nikon D80. I love shooting black and white photography using film and my Nikon F100. Otherwise, I occasionally dabble in medium format photography with a very old and heavy Mamiya. Why do I like taking pictures? I wrote this in 2005 as part of my “Photographer’s Statement” when I was preparing my senior exhibition (titled On the Way Home). It still says a lot of what I feel.
I always liked taking pictures. A part of me doesn’t really know why, but even as a young child I seemed to have a point and shoot camera around somewhere. I bought my first “real” camera, a Nikon SLR, right out of high school. From then on, the camera became an inseparable extension of myself. Taking photographs makes me feel alive. They preserve our memories and tell our stories for years to come. Photographs tell us that life is beautiful because they somehow visually capture every range of human emotion. The story an image tells can depict everything from the purest beauty, joy and hope to unadulterated hate, ugliness and pain. Somehow in between all of this, I want my photographs to say something about love and the importance of connecting with the people around us. Photographs remind us of certain truths about life. Life is a journey. I don’t believe that journey ends until you make it to your eternal home. My photographs are some of the moments I’ve experienced so far while on my way. I hope they remind and encourage you to find what makes you feel alive. Every moment is a precious gift. Each frame I shoot is a reminder of that.
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