Erin Short
My work explores the relationship between personal experience, emotional memory, and the act of creation as a form of reflection and healing. Photography, for me, is both documentation and interpretation—a way to translate internal experiences into visual narratives that others can see, feel, and recognize within themselves.
Working across digital and analog format, primarily 35mm, I am drawn to the intentionality and presence required in image-making. The process of slowing down, observing, and constructing an image mirrors the process of examining one’s own thoughts and experiences. Through this practice, photography becomes more than an image; it becomes an encounter with a moment, a feeling, or a story.
Storytelling sits at the center of my practice. Personal history, travel, and lived experience often shape the environments, subjects, and symbolism within my photographs and other work. While many images originate from my own perspective, they are created with the hope that viewers will find echoes of their own emotions and memories within them.
Alongside my personal work, I bring more than eight years of professional experience as a photographer and photo editor leading high-volume product, lifestyle, and brand campaign photography for national brands. My commercial practice spans the full creative process—from concept development and location scouting to production, post-production, and asset management—producing visual assets for print, digital, e-commerce, and broadcast platforms. I regularly collaborate across teams to develop in-house creative solutions that elevate brand storytelling and replace the need for external agencies while maintaining a high standard of visual consistency and impact.
The intersection of these two practice, commercial and personal, shapes how I approach image-making. Technical precision, production experience, and collaborative problem-solving inform my professional work, while my personal practice remains grounded in vulnerability, reflection, and narrative exploration.
Ultimately, I create for the therapeutic value of the process and the connection it can foster. By sharing these visual narratives, whether in personal projects or brand storytelling, I aim to open a space where reflection, meaning, and shared human experience can exist, reminding viewers that the emotions and stories we carry are rarely ours alone.