Mary Gehr was a renaissance woman.
Born in 1913, she was an esteemed painter, printmaker, dancer for the
Chicago Opera Company and…. my father’s partner. Her travels took her
across the globe – and she would return home with colorful artwork
that paid tribute to the cultures of far off lands. It’s taken me years to
realize the full impact she had on my life.
I am a renaissance woman in the making.
A lover of languages, I’ve studied in Madrid where I fell in love with
Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Early Delights (housed in the Museo
del Prado). A champion of human rights, I’ve worked with Salvadoran
refugees and volunteer at organizations committed to empowering women across all social strata. A devotee to the temple of travel, my camera and I have ventured to colonial towns in Mexico, the mountains of Peru, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, Morocco, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Israel. A mother who is in awe of her children, my sons, Max and Sam (like their grandfather before them) are musicians and my daughter, Anni, is getting her doctorate in Child Psychology.
In fact, it was my children who led me to photography. When my twins were born, a photographer shooting for Child Magazine needed to capture an image of a mother nursing her twins. After we posed for her editorial, she made me her producer. The rest is history…
I am a passionate photographer with a special talent for putting people at ease. I am a great observer who knows that unpredictable moments that happen in the blink of an eye are usually the most memorable. I am a purveyor of authenticity and that is at the heart of my work.
A sunny day, my children’s passions and photographing people – this is who I am.