Lori Seaman
Kent, WA - United States
Lori Seaman - Fine Artist
Member Since: 04/01/2010
As starving students, and expecting our first son, we knew we had to have a camera, so we found a used Nikormat another student was selling -- long before digital cameras.
I started shooting anything and everything. The cost of film and processing started getting exhorbitant, so, my husband bought me a very inexpensive enlarger that I set up in our mini bathroom. It sat on the toilet, the developing trays on a piece of plywood placed on the bath tub, and I washed the prints in our little sink and set up a clothes line to hang the prints. I could do it all while standing or kneeling in one place. It was a ton of fun!
One thing led to another -- neighbors started asking who took the photos, and when I told them, I started getting jobs taking pictures of their babies, families and so on.
After years of just dabbling, I set up a make-shift studio in the basement of a home we were renting. I had several jobs, and one of my most satisfying was photographing friends who had a baby the same age as my second son. Their little girl had cerebral palsy, and they'd never been able to get a good picture of her. My biggest reward was being able to photograph them all together, and little Jennifer Joy looked radiant. She was such a sweetie. It became even more meaningful when I heard that she had passed away just a few years later.
Eventually I ended up in Hawaii and worked for the local newspaper on the Big Island. The general manager discovered that in addition to running the office, I had a talent for photography, and I ended up on an 8 year whirlwind of photo heaven -- taking pictures for the front page, sports, special events, and special editions of the paper. I was flown in by helicopter to shoot pictures of the volcano, I flew above Kailua Kona for special photos of the coastline and surrounding area. I also helped start a photography club with a friend of mine who had spent 3 years as an apprentice to Ansel Adams. He taught me so much about what I know today.
Then World Championship Tennis came to town, and I was hired to follow the circuit for 5 months. Players such as Arthur Ash, Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, Newcom and more were the star tennis players. I shot night before photos at the parties where there were Hollywood celebrities, then rushed to have them ready the next day before the game started. I'd then photograph the event and rush back to the darkroom to soup the film and make the prints, then run them to the airport for transport to the UP and AP wires. It was exhausting work, but fun, and very memorable.
I've done wedding photography, and many special events, including ballroom dancing. I eventually ended up in real estate, and again was sought out to photograph -- this time photogalleries and virtual tours for other agents to use on their fliers and on the web.
Some of my favorite photos come from times I'm walking in a park, in the wilderness, along the beach, or just studying people on the street. I'll take pictures of food, wine, bubbles . . . anything. I find beauty in so many things, and strive to produce photos that allow the emotion to come through, or depict the strength and awesomeness of an inanimate object.
I hope you enjoy my work.
