Just Josie, named after my late grandmother Jo.
Born in Tennessee and spending much of my childhood between The Blue Ridge Mountains & Central Florida, I attribute my sensitivity and keen observation skills to Nature, which will always remain my favorite teacher.
My grandmother, lovingly revered as the matriarch of my family, showed me the importance of preservation through family photographs. Even as a small child, I found every excuse to pore over those prints — slipping through a timeless portal where questions of my heritage could be satiated with tangible evidence of life.
My mother instilled faith in my creative ability very early on. Many of my memories alongside her involve some form of paint, pencils, or plain old ballpoint pens — happily passing time in parallel play. She is the primary reason I may even be called an artist & I’m grateful for her faith in me every day.
Love for people and earth has always informed how I behave & what I notice, whether I have a camera in my hand or not.
I began photographing weddings in 2015 and have been enthralled since. There is so much to discern by way of a camera — peace, chaos, celebration, grief, relatives that have known you since birth & chosen family. All of it intertwines under one roof for one ephemeral evening, and somehow I’ve found this remarkable way of being privy to it.
It is not just an honor for me to find my part in this experience, it is my absolute joy.
