About Erin Harris

I have always loved photography. As a child, I remember using my first two cameras, a Kodak Disc 6000 and a Vivitar Tele 815, both "hand-me-downs'' to take photos of my friends and family, which I would cut up to make collages that I hung on the walls of my bedroom. Even then, I loved that I could capture single moments in time and keep them forever, cementing them in my memory and creating art through images on film.

When I took my first photography class in high school, I acquired my first SLR camera that had once belonged to my great-grandmother, a Canon TX (circa 1975 and older than me), which I was quite fond of. It was during this time that I developed my skills as a photographer, learning the techniques of developing film and printing photos in a dark room and nurturing my eye for design. I was passionate about photography and spent endless hours in the darkroom that my stepdad created for me in a small room in the basement. Going against the advice of my high school photography teacher, I followed a completely different career path. In college, I tried out mechanical engineering (long story!) but eventually majored in Spanish, and soon after, completed a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction so that I could teach Spanish. I love children and am passionate about teaching. I love that each day, I can be making a difference in the life of a child and opening up their world to new experiences through language and culture.

However, I never stopped taking photos and I have always loved the way creating art through photography makes me feel.

When I moved to Milwaukee, I began taking photos of friends and their families as favors, simply because I loved to do it and perhaps because they thought I had the "eye" for it. The more I nurtured that "eye" the more I began to look at everything around me as if I were taking a photo. I loved watching the way light dances at dusk and shadows fall under the treetops. I was always looking at the world through my lens, contemplating how I could compose and capture each moment. After having my own children it seemed my camera lived in my hands, and I also began to practice the technical side of digital photography and photo editing. I stayed up until all hours, studying and practicing, until I arrived at the point where I feel like I can proudly share my artistic vision with others. To me, photos are works of art that reach into the heart of who we are. I absolutely love that through photography I can capture the spirit of childhood and the love of families. I would be so honored to photograph your family and share my artistic vision with you.