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Jamie was born and raised in
Blue Point, New York, a small town on the south shore of Long
Island. She moved to Greenville in 1982, where she completed her
B.A. and M.A. in English Literature at East Carolina University.
For most of her life she had used a
point-and-shoot camera to "take pictures." For many different
reasons, making the financial and photographic leap to a "real
camera" was not an option or priority. A diagnosis and recurrence of
breast cancer in her early 30s gave her the courage and incentive to
purchase her first 35mm camera.
The gift of life encouraged her to discover a passion for exploring the world
around her through photography. That first year was one of great
learning, and Jamie knew that she finally had the tools to begin
capturing the essence of the miracles she saw and what she envisioned.
In 1997
she experienced an epiphany in a field of wildflowers on the North
Carolina coast. Upon entering this field with her camera, she
carried with her a load of stress and emotional burdens. Surrounded
by explosions of color, shapes and patterns, she focused her
attention on the intimate details revealed to her as she crawled
around the poppies, oxeye daisies and cosmos. After a while, her shoulders dropped, her breathing slowed, and
that all the "stuff" she carried into the field had disappeared. At
that moment she realized the healing powers of nature and the
spiritual connection she felt as she photographed. At that moment,
New Life Photos was born.
With special emphasis on close-up
photography, Jamie focuses on the intimate details of the natural
world -- ones that can be seen only when the hurried pace of life is
slowed. Her photographic interests also include gardens,
wildflowers, old farm buildings and tobacco barns, lighthouses and
coastal scenes.
Jamie has exhibited her work over the past
ten years, including the North Carolina Museum of Life & Science,
Sertoma Arts Center, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural
Sciences with fellow nature photographer, Bill Campbell. Her work has
appeared in North Carolina Literary Review and Fear of the Coming
Drought and on the covers
of Impressions magazine (Spring/Summer 2004), Tar River Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review and the
Breast Cancer
Resource Directory of North Carolina (First, Second & Third Editions).
She is an active member of the North American Nature Photography Association and Carolinas
Nature Photographers Association. Jamie joined the staff of ASAP
Photo & Camera in Greenville in 2006 and enjoys helping people get
the most out of their photography adventures.
Jamie
shares her images, field experiences and love of nature
photography through presentations and workshops. Her work is
currently available online and at Artisans
in Greenville, NC.
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