My mom always kept a camera within arms reach. Whether we were celebrating a major holiday or just enjoying another day of ordinary family life, she snapped photos and filled albums. First steps, summertime popsicles, game nights – it was all there.

As I burned through Harry Potter books and episodes of Friends to learn English, she preserved our legacy. When I asked her why she was so driven to document every little moment, she showed me a picture from her childhood...then told me this picture was the only one she had. She didn’t live surrounded by mountains of memorabilia that could instantly transport her back in time.
So, she wanted to make sure that was a gift she could give to me someday. 

While she gave me the gift of a documented childhood, she also gave me so much more. Her passion for photography and its power to freeze moments in time inspired me to pursue the art myself. I went on to major in multimedia arts in college. I interned with the European Press Agency, got a job as a product photographer with a clothing company, and eventually launched a portrait photography business. But my mom’s view of photography as a window to the past eventually led me to document weddings & families and so much more.

A Gift and Legacy

My Photography Story