{ About Me }

Hi. My name is Gretchen Shaw.  I live in Memphis, Tennessee with my husband, Mike. I grew up in Virginia with my 2 sisters, 1 brother, my Mom and Dad. Photography has been a love of mine for quite some time.  I took a photo class my sophomore year in high school and from then on have been pretty much hooked.  I majored in Art in college with a concentration in Photography.  I did most of my work in the dark room in those years, and believe that is my true love. BUT, times change and technology changes, and with that I have to change too.  So I moved to digital.  After college I spent a year working on an Indian Reservation in Washington state, creating promotional material for a church ministry located there. And as part of my job, I took lots and lots of pictures; mostly pictures of kids, kids that didn't have many loved ones, if any, taking pictures of them. So here comes my philosophy of picture taking I learned while out in Washington:  While doing promotional work, many people saw the pictures I took, and I saw many people drawn to tears while looking at these photos. Though my pride wants me to think that this had something to do with my skill in taking these pictures, I know without a doubt that those tears went way beyond just the technical skill.  In every location, in every face, in every pair of eyes that stare through a lens are hundreds of stories. These stories sometimes make us laugh, and sometimes even make us get angry, and sometimes they make us cry. I love helping create these memories and love helping tell the stories.  I hope you'll let me take part in telling yours. 



This is Winnie and I in Washington having a good time.  She is full of lots of love and smiles!




Mike and I in college, before it all happened! For some reason this is my favorite picture of us.




Me and my older sister, Melody. Yes, I was chubby. 




Me in action, or maybe taking a break...it's hard to tell. :)




This is Jordan.  I took lots of pictures of her in Washington, and I miss her dearly.