My photographic work emerges from a dialogue between nostalgia and immediacy, between the soft palette of the high desert where I spent my early childhood and the vivid colors of 1980s and 90s pop culture.

Growing up surrounded by the folk art sensibility of my parents' generation while being immersed in late 20th century imagery instilled in me an appreciation for both the handmade and the ephemeral. My mother introduced me to photography through the work of Dorothea Lange and Lee Miller, and I began documenting my life with film cameras at age ten. The darkroom my mother maintained in our home became my first understanding of photography as alchemy…a transformation of light and chemistry into lasting memory.

My practice is rooted in analog processes and their inherent materiality. The unpredictability of film, its grain and depth, speaks to something essential about how I want to engage with the world. I am motivated by medium as much as message. My approach tends toward the direct and truthful; I prefer to capture authentic moments rather than construct scenes, letting stories unfold organically before the camera.

Throughout my creative journey, I've returned again and again to the act of documentation: of friendships, travels, everyday moments that might otherwise be forgotten. After years spent in other fields, I found my way back to photography at 39, and it became the creative pursuit that finally held. This medium allows me to merge my interest in honest storytelling with my appreciation for craft and process.

Community has become central to my understanding of my role as an artist. Having learned and grown through connection with other photographers, I recognize the power of collective creative practice. After seventeen years in the Bay Area and subsequent relocation to Riverside, I've become particularly attuned to the importance of place and belonging. My work now focuses on documenting people creating positive change in their communities…illuminating the small acts of goodness that don’t always get the attention they deserve.

I see my photography not as an isolated artistic practice but as a tool for creating beauty, inspiring others, and shining light on good. I am drawn to stories of resilience and connection, to moments that affirm our shared humanity. In capturing these images, I hope to contribute to a visual archive of care and purpose, documenting the ways we show up for one another and the communities we build together.

You may contact me at info@imagesbyaddie.com