When Claire was seven years old, all she wanted for Christmas was a camera.
Her wish came true in the form of a white digital point and shoot camera, in true 2000s fashion. She used this camera to photograph her family, friends, but most of all, her cat Jasmine.
Then, in high school, she started to learn the basics of DSLR cameras through joining the yearbook staff. Her aunt, a wedding photographer at the time, even let her second shoot a few small weddings. Things started to click. A free weekend as a teenager meant going out to different cultural events and photographing her home city of Raleigh, NC. She planned countless photoshoots of her classmates in elaborate settings. As a senior, she was editor-in-chief of the yearbook, instilling a love of storytelling and bookmaking that would continue long after graduation.
In college, she got her hands on a classic Pentax K1000 film camera. Most of her early rolls came back blank. But with persistence and many Youtube tutorials, film started to feel as natural as breathing. Film became her number one method of documenting her friends and peers. Life got more real: a global pandemic, immense personal losses, and an understanding that life is not guaranteed. Photographing was no longer just a hobby, it became a conscious means of archiving the stories and connections, the love and loss, that define our lives.
Now, Claire continues her love of visual storytelling and documentation through a multifaceted photography practice. She creates heart-centered artwork for clients, plans elaborate creative photoshoots with friends, and documents social movements through photographing liberation-centered rallies and political actions.
She now lives in Raleigh with her partner Mickey and their perfect tuxedo cat Pierre. She’s glad you’re here.
Beyond Photo:
While a student at UNC Charlotte, Claire created the University’s first and only culture and lifestyle magazine, MIDAS, where she served as Editor-in-Chief and later as Creative Director. She graduated with a degree in Communications/Mass Media, with minors in Film Studies and Women & Gender Studies.
She has completed internships for VICE Media Group as the editorial intern for Refinery29; the North Carolina Museum of Art as the Outreach and Studio Programs Intern; and an Anita McLeod intern at the Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South (RCWMS). She loves learning and working in interdisciplinary spaces that encourage outside-of-the-box thinking.
In addition to running her photography business, she works part time at RCWMS as their Arts Coordinator and 50th Anniversary Curator, where she happily immerses herself in studying intersectional feminist history of the Southern United States.