ABOUT

I began taking photos at an early age--my first camera was a purple, handheld, manual-rewind, 35mm toy camera with 200-speed film that I got as a gift around age 8.  From there, I used disposable 35mm cameras from Kodak and Fuji, as well as Polaroids, until I received a Minolta Maxxum QTsi with AF 35-80mm lens just before I entered high school.  This was my prized possession for five or more years, until I discovered digital in my senior year of high school--another gift, a Canon Elph with 4MP.  

 

Not until joining the free-form photography club at Wellesley as a liberal arts student did I delve back into 35mm:  black-and-white this time, as the school boasted an elaborate black-and-white darkroom for the use of all students and club members (Optik! RIP).  There I exhibited twice.  Two of the prints sold to Wellesley Art faculty or staff (Thanks for the early support!), but I've since lost track of the negatives, so these will most likely never be reproduced. 

 

Upon graduating in 2010, with a Bachelor of Arts, and my Minolta and Elph having seen better days, it took a couple of years until I would have the sort of job freedom and equipment to strike up the habit of capture once more.  In 2012, I bought myself a Nikon D3100 dSLR; with the exception of quick snapshots on the iPhone, this is the camera I primarily use today.  All prints are now digital to reduce environmental impact.

 

Photography and creation are, for me, about capturing and sharing my reality.  I try to be as honest as possible to the moment and avoid artificial light sources, a studio setting, or subject manipulation. This method affords me simultaneous detachment and immersion in a given moment. I much prefer to produce images that are  raw and unedited.  

 

I am also a writer, and am working on my second book of poems.   You can find my writing on Blogger at Erikanism, and follow my FB photography updates under Erika Haines Photography. I continue to have aspirations in academia.

 

Thanks for taking a look.

 

-Erika  

 

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