Mandy Sloan is a Eugene, Oregon based photographer with a penchant for creativity that goes well beyond the camera. Her love of her children, as well as her joy for knitting, drinking coffee, and photography, come forth as the frequent intimate subjects of her work. Simple, yet complex, powerful, and emotive, her images reveal an intimacy of subject and honing of craft that inspire one to realize the abundance of good things that surround us in our homes and lives. As we head into Autumn it is my pleasure to share with you the vision of Mandy Sloan: may it be to you as a hot cup of apple cider, or Mandy's preferred Oregon micro-brewed beer, on a golden fall day full of wonder and goodness.

"Life would be unbearably dull if we had answers to all our questions." - Jim Butcher

"If I didn't have my camera to remind me constantly, I am here to do this, I would eventually have slipped away, I think. I would have forgotten my reason to exist." - Annie Leibovitz

How did you get interested in photography?

I was 6 years old when my Dad took me to a second hand store and bought me my very first camera before the summer family road trip.  I took photos of a Mariners baseball game, a rainbow over a field somewhere between Seattle and Salt Lake City, my sister making silly faces, the Salt Flats in Utah and a cow.  It was the best vacation ever.  I know this because I had a camera in hand and 8 whole film cartridges.  I quickly outgrew the Brownie Hawkeye Instamatic and upgraded to a very used Minolta SRT-101.  I don’t think I have been without a camera since.

Film is not dead.

"I am a camera, with its shutter open. Someday, all of this will be developed, printed, fixed." - Christopher Isherwood

"Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King Jr.

How long have you been a photographer?

6 years ago I was crazy lucky and landed a job as a medical photographer at a hospital.  I spent 5 years taking pictures of the most incredible things there, everything from open heart surgery to new born babies, ad photos of physicians to life flight helicopters.  It was amazing and such a fantastic adventure.  I have since moved on to start my own freelance photography business.  I still take photos at the hospital but have more time to crochet, knit, and spend with my family.

In the OR

Peas in a pod

"When it was dark, you always carried the sun in your hand for me." - Seán O'Casey

What is your favorite place to photograph? Or subject?

I love taking pictures of kids.  The are the greatest subjects ever!  They don’t care if their hair is messy or if their muffin top is showing.  They have the best laughs and the greatest expressions.  And, my gosh, what is better than rolling around on the ground playing while taking photos?!

film+props+daughters=all the fun you will ever need

"For there is no friend like a sister." — Christina Rossetti

How can photographers help change/impact the world, while they are traveling?

Photographs tell such an amazing story, no captions needed.  You can learn so much about the daily life of someone far away with just a single photo.  That picture shown to the right person at the right time can start a chain reaction of change.

Holding us together

"Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows." - Helen Keller

Are there rules in other countries people need to be aware of about who or what you can or cannot shoot?

I am not one to break rules, but I am also not one to go out of my way to find out what they are to begin with.  I live by a rule a news photographer taught me many, many years ago, “Shoot whatever you need to until someone tells you to stop, then shoot a few more and one of the person who told you to quit in the first place.”

The best reason for a knitter to marry is that you can't teach the cat to be impressed when you finish a lace scarf.” - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut." - Dr. Seuss

Any photography tips you want to share?

Fill the frame with good stuff.  Empty space is often times good stuff. 

Follow your heart and take the photos that make you happy, whether it is a carefully thought out and well planned landscape or a snapshot of your kids and pets. 

Please, please, don’t let your gear hold you back, use what you have and know how to make the best of what you have where you are.

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” - Dr. Seuss

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave." - Walter Scott

Oh, Snap.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

I love film.  When I am not shooting for someone else I am most likely shooting on one type of film camera or another.  I have a wee bit of a camera obsession, I have lost count of how many vintage cameras line the shelves of my home and office.  I am, however, putting my camera collection to good use, I am working on a coffee table book with the working title of Coffee Squared containing pictures of coffee and coffee related things developed using the caffenol technique.  It is a labor of love and an ongoing project.

"I'd never met coffee that wasn't wonderful. It was just a matter of how wonderful it was." - Laurell K. Hamilton

"As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?" - Cassandra Clare

"Life is too short to be matching socks." - Emily Villafonni

For more information, please see:

www.mandysloan.com
www.printsandthingsshop.etsy.com
mandysloan.smugmug.com

Feature photo:

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." - Ernest Hemingway