© Annie McElwain
I grew up in an industrial city in Idaho called Nampa, population 19,961. Nampa was named for the large footprints left in the snow by Native Americans who stuffed their moccasins with sagebrush to keep their feet warm. It was also known as "Main Street America."
During the blazing summers I worked for my father's furniture factory unloading giant loaves of foam rubber from metal boxcars. One of the first things I purchased with my earnings was a telescope from my local K-Mart. I spent nights gazing at the clear starry skies and dreamed of a world far beyond Nampa.
My exit finally came in the form of a college scholarship to play the tuba. Who else can say that? I studied piano, and thought I was on the road to becoming a composer and concert pianist. As soon as I graduated, I was off to conquer New York City as a performer. At night, however, I followed another creative passion — studying Photography and Imaging at NYU. Once I began taking pictures, I knew I would be willing to trade in my sheet music to become a photographer.
Today I reside in Los Angeles where I'm living my dream: working with people and manipulating light. My images capture both spontaneous and studied moments. I still have that same passion about photography. My goal is to leave my footprint on the photography world's "Main Street." I'll remove the sagebrush first.
