I'm in Miami!

So the week of Christmas I went with my big sis to South Beach. The trip was a Chanukah gift from my parents for me and a 'get-your-ex-off-your-mind' gift for my sister. (She recently split up with her 3 yr long relationship..so she deserved it!) The trip was super fun and we had a blast doing our best to keep up with the crazy nightlife scene. Our days were filled with visits to family relatives, beach excursions, good (and way over priced) food, gallery hopping on Lincoln and, of course, some photo shoots I has scheduled prior to the visit!

One session was with a woman and her beautiful rescue boxer. I always love photograping these dogs because it brings me such joy to see another pup out of the shelter system.

The other session was with the sweetest woman, who fosters about 22 terrier mixes as she works day to day to find homes for them. I photographed about 15 of them and what a crazy fun time it was! (and a little french bulldog pup that showed up in the park as well) Hopfully my photographs can help to find these little guys their forever home!

Everything New

So, after a long...long..time of not coming to this page, (mainly in hopes of setting up a new and fancier blog) I decided, while waiting to get that going I might as well blog here. I have been craving to write about everything I have been up to for the last seven months and it is time to finally lay it all out.

So the best way to tell everyone what I have been up to is through a bunch of long, run on sentence. Follow if you can!

Last May I graduated college (woo). Finished the semester off with my 'Four to Five Million' shelter dog project I wrote about prior to today. It was so much fun and it made me realize again the passion I have for photographing animals. So after a great exhibition of my thesis, a front page article in the Springfield Republican featuring my photo work, a video posted on the website of the work as well, and a great last semester, I said goodbye to my life in MA and move home to CT. My goal was to find a job with a magazine doing fashion photography (what was I thinking?!) and move straight from Amherst to NYC. Big fail. I searched and searched for a job and there was nothing. So back to my parents house it was. I began interning for a wonderful wedding photographer, Carlos Varela, (this is really where I learned how to be a good photographer) in NYC, but it was still a 2 hour commute 3 days a week. While home I started photographing my pets. Mickey, a mixed terrier, who I have had since I was 9, my two little mixed chihuahua rescues that inhabit my parents home and my two kitties quickly became the direction I was pointing my lens. Why it took me this long to figure it out, I don't know, but it hit me (with my parents help) that this was really my true calling. I decided to start up my own pet photography business. It happened quickly and once I got going I really go into it. I completely love what I am doing now and have started working really hard to get my name out there. So after 6 long, socially deprived months, I made it!! I have officially move to NYC. I got a job working at a Veterinary Hospital in the East Village and found a nice little place in Midtown. I have one roommate who is fantastic and super sweet and I can now work, in the meantime, on building my business up. So, this is the begining of my journey. A journey exploring my passion and absolute obsession and love of animals combined with my overwhelming desire to capture them in a creative and contemporary ways through my lens. I feel determined to make people smile and give my clients a photograph that speaks more as a special memory and moment rather than a stuffy staged portrait. (I refer to this as 'cat in the boot' photography!) I hope you follow along in my new and exciting chapter. Here is to 2010, a year of everything new: new friends, new pets, and new york! I hope we can enjoy it together!!

Rachel :)

About This Project

“My 15 year old white Chihuahua was a rescue from a pet shop that was closed down in NYC by protests and a lawsuit. Angelina was going to be put down because the breeder would rather not pay the return shipping fee to transport the animals to another store. Instead the pet store opted to pay $5.00 for an injection and put the bodies in a freezer. They would then collect $50.00 from their insurance carrier for producing the dead dog to their claims adjuster. Luckily, Angelina and 18 other dogs were rescued/stolen/abducted the night before the injection technician - not a vet - was going to kill them”

It may be a small step toward change, but my photographs have already begun to affect those who are witness to them. Perspectives have been slightly modified and stereotypes have been questioned. When it comes time for my viewers to get a dog, they will now be able to make a more educated decision with the knowledge I have provided. My work is a step toward enlightening the public and an attempt to alter the way they view these misunderstood dogs.

With a careful blend of advertising and lifestyle techniques I have made the dog my subject, putting emphasis on it as a life, not a product for sale. Some of these dogs have been in shelters for months, others are lucky enough to have gone into foster homes while they wait, but each dog, no matter where it is coming from has a story to tell and if you choose, it’s worth listening.

BFA Show Reception thurs. 5/21 @5-7pm

4 To Five Million

My BFA Thesis Show
Host: Rachel Yessenow

Date: May 18-22, 2009
Time: Gallery Hours
M-Th 10-5, F 10-3

Location:
416 STUDENT UNION GALLERY
UMass Amherst, Amherst Ma, 01003
(413) 545-0792



OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday May 21, 5-7


This event is free and open to the public!!

**I will be posting the photographs from the exhibit on May 18, after the show is up. So if you want to take home one of the featured dogs, stay tuned!!**