About the Artist

Although I currently live in Snohomish, Washington, my journey as a photographer began much earlier in Spokane, Washington, the other side of the Cascade mountains. When I was only a few years old my father enlisted in the military and the roadtrip that would shape so much of my future and the way I see the world was off to an adventurous start. Over the past thirty years I have moved frequently. Meet a variety of interesting people. Learned a lot. And have seen even more.

Our family traveled across the country, twice, by car. Those trips that had a long and lasting impression on me. They gave me a love and appreciation for the open road, the land and history. I couldn't help but to look out the window and wonder about the people who had been there before me and want to preserve the scene for those who would come later. I was in awe over the vast and varied panoramas that surrounded our vehicle as we made our way.

Photography did not become an intrigual part of my life until I began my college career. I had enrolled in a Television and Video Production course at a local community college with future plans of going onto film school. Photography classes were apart of my curriculum and after the first class I was hooked. I went on to film school, but maintained photography as a side interest. Early in my second year of film school I left college, but continued to take pictures. In the spring of 1997 I got brave. I worked up the nerve to enter one of my photos in a local juried art festival. Much to my suprise, the image not only made it into the show, but it sold, on the first day. That gave me the push and confidence that I had needed. In the fall of 1997 I returned to school as a full-time student at the Univeristy of Nevada, Las Vegas. In June of 2001 I earned by BA in Art. I have been working to make art and photography my primary career ever since.

It was two weeks between graduation and the day that I started my first photography job. Since that time I have had many wonderful experiences and learned what it is to be a working photographer and artist. It is not an easy way to make a living, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have shot fine art, commercial, weddings and freelance news photos. I have experienced rejection, the thrill of success and acceptance. Now I am looking forward to the future and all the photographs that are ahead. Whether it is an expansive vista or a microcosmic detail of a flower, a new moment to capture lies over every hill and beyond every bend of the road. My goal is to share as many of these scenes with the world as I can.

Margi Baxter Wilburn

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