About Me!
So you wanna know about Ol' Rach, eh?
Sweet! First off, I'm an introvert who does NOT like being the center of attention. But you are nice and this feels more like one on one, so I feel a little bit better about it all. I studied Photography in college because I was drawn to being able to be creative within the context of a physical skill (using the camera). Truth be told, I actually was an "undeclared" major until the middle of my Junior year. If that's not telling of my indecisiveness, I don't know what is.
BUT I'M WORKING ON THAT.
Travel
I currently live in Port Angeles, Washington. Ocean, mountains, temperate rainforest, glacial lakes- it's all here! I have been living here on and off due to my partner's seasonal job at Olympic National Park. Oh the seasonal worker's life! A lot of my nature photography is from hiking and backpacking around the park. When we aren't here, we live in Marquette, Michigan. There's a lot of adventuring in-between when we travel to and fro- I've had opportunities to road trip all over the country. My non domestic travels include Thailand, Chile, Costa Rica, Belize, and England. I'm saving up for the day when the Covid pandemic is over and I can visit more places!
Some Stuff, in no particular order
- My favorite art to consume is abstract landscape painting.
- Shit is my favorite casual curse word (sorry Grandma).
- I super duper care about sustainability and feminism and that NOW is the best time yet for television.
- I do not like IPAs, so stop telling me how amazing these octuple IPAs are. Yuck.
- I LOVE CHRISTMAS, and Winter is my fav season.
- I use a DivaCup instead of tampons and it has made my life better.
- I love deep souls who don’t take themselves too seriously.
- I get crabby very easily.
- I've got an older sister and brother-in-law and a younger sister and two adorable parents. Shoutout to Myrian, John, Eleanor, Mom&Dad! I also gained some pretty rad in-laws. Shoutout to Jenna, Spencer, Lauren, and Mom&Dad L.!
Me & My Art
I’ve realized that verbal communication is not my connection point. Photography connects all those hard to explain feelings, vibes, and intuitions through visuals instead of words. I think that is why I am so drawn to making abstract images. Most of my series work is emotionally driven; I use space, line and color rather than representational objects to convey emotion.
What I'm Working On Right Now
Anti-Racism. Since the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests, it became clear to me that I was not where I needed to be in the fight against racism. I had not been paying attention, had not been doing the reflection and work about my own bias and racism, and have not been anything close to the ally that I should be. Since then I've been trying to catch up. I know I am late. I don't have an excuse and I don't need you, my reader, to make excuses for me. I have been reading to educate myself, following a program by Rachel Cargle called The Great Unlearn, and attending video conversations/events to better understand and prepare myself for the work ahead. White people, this is our problem and we've gotta do better and be better.
Intersectional Feminism. One of my passions is passionate women- they are the most impressive and motivating force to me. Feminism has been an important movement and rallying cry for me. However, feminism has long been co-opted by white cis women. I want to be a part of feminism for ALL women. I am working on understanding the history of feminism beyond the white framework. I pledge to be a safe and welcoming space for women.
Food. My food challenges right now are buying *local*organic*fair trade*sustainably produced* items. I try to get as many of those qualities as I can in most items I buy, but I definitely cannot claim to get all of those in every single item. My roommates and I joined a composting service earlier this summer, and it feels awesome to keep all that organic material out of the trash!
Clothing. A few years ago I made a New Year's Resolution to not buy any new clothing unless it was from a company that used sustainable and fair labor practices OR was second hand. I've bought a few items that didn't fit the challenge since then. BUT overall, I have kept that practice of reducing my consumption of new clothing or supporting businesses that do it right. Sometimes it's just time to get new underwear, ya know? But I'm willing to pay extra so that I don't contribute to horrible working conditions that many laborers deal with.
Parks and Rach
Whew. Thanks for making it this far! As a reward, here are some cute pics of me and my partner, Parker. He's real nice. We've been together for eight years now! Eight years means a lot of different hair cuts, man. Fun fact: I designed our wedding "ring" tattoos.
Left: This is Parker proposing to me!
Below: And this is at our wedding!!!
The rest of these images were taken by Sabrina Leigh Studios. These were the first professional images we've have taken since our wedding. Sabrina is so sweet, and I love these images. I think they capture our cuddly friendship. We did this social distanced session during the first month of the COVID pandemic on the steps of our previous apartment building in Marquette.
Anyways, go hire Sabrina! Insta @sabrinaleighstudios
So that's a little intro into me and my life. Thanks for joining me and please come back soon!