I’ve never been to Montana, but I get the feeling that it is an enormous place, bigger than its physical presence. Sky and land are space for the head, and land and weather are a challenge for the body.

 

 

Annie Bailey’s photographs capture a piece of that enormity. They are monumental and imposing. Her compositions are alternatively empty and full – the subject dominates the space; sometimes the space is the subject. Texture is part of it too – rich, weather-beaten patinas, dust, sky and grass.

 

 

 

“My favorite thing to photograph is large beautiful white clouds over an open field. The sky is definitely an element that I most often incorporate into my photographs.
Giving a spatial context to the subject is also fun. Here in Montana, there’s usually so much space around the subjects I photograph that it’s fun to show just how alone they are in the landscape.”

 

 

Annie has always had a camera, even as a child, but it wasn’t until she got her driver’s licence that she decided to get serious. “Photography is a deep passion of mine. I looked at photographs as a child and remember wishing to be the one who captured those moments. There are small magical things in life that get passed by so easily. I think I could spend the rest of my life searching for and documenting moments like that. Even if I’m having a bad day, I know I’m okay if I’m still thinking to myself, ‘gees, that’s a really gorgeous cloud formation.’ And yes, I really do think that sometimes.”

Annie feels fortunate to be making a living from her photography, and she also paints.  “I was more serious about painting before I was serious about photography.  I took pictures of grain elevators and landscapes to paint, but then I started getting really hooked on photography because of that.”

“I haven’t taken any classes on photography. I believe that people have the ability to see things without teaching them how.  Maybe it keeps you from worrying about being ‘proper’. … When I first started in photography, I was very eager to satisfy all the things my eye was seeing. I took so many photographs, and didn’t really care about my technical skill. At that point it was testing my eye, riding on a huge visual learning curve. It’s funny about photography actually, that it’s not even seeing anything in a different way than you do with your eyes, but somehow when a camera is placed between your eye and what’s beyond your lens, there comes a need to practice seeing.” And she says that is the best piece of advice ever given to her, to “practice using your eye.” Her take is that “As an individual you will have your own way of seeing, so try not to let one criticism throw you off of your natural way of seeing.”

 

 

Like so many artists, Annie’s biggest obstacle is time, but really thinks her worst experience has been missing some great shots, “and I do mean GREAT, just because I didn’t have my camera. I still think about a few of the missed opportunities I’ve encountered and it makes me cringe. Lesson learned: never leave your camera at home if you can help it.”

 

 

You can find more of Annie’s work in her Etsy shop here, and you can check her blog Montana Photo Journal here.

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With thanks to Annie for generously sharing her words and images here.