Photography—for me, the art and practice of planning, shooting, and creating a collection of images—is a means of fulfilling my natural human instinct to collect and gather. Instead of filtering this instinct by collecting items necessary for survival—as humans have done since the beginning of our evolution—this is the channeling of that instinct through the process of creating a collection of meaningful works of art. For me, the most meaningful photographs are either realistic representations or creative expressions of the natural world. My photographs feature animals, plants, and landscapes, and evidence of human involvement is always either entirely absent or minimized. I value the natural world because within it there is wisdom that is beyond our ability to fully comprehend; there is beauty that is deeper than our ability to truly see; and there is value that is beyond our capacity to adequately assess. While words possess undeniable efficacy as a means of communication, the natural world seems to defy our capacity to describe it in words that do it justice. But when words are combined with moving visual imagery, the expression is more complete and the language is imbued with a quality of universality that speaks to us across national and international boundaries.

Taking a photograph of a natural place, an animal, or a plant gives me the ability and power to express the natural subject according to my own unique interpretation and subjective experience. The vision and power placed in an image convey meaning in a universal language that evolved before there were any words.  

Jessamyn is a Michigan-based nature photographer who has been learning the craft of digital nature photography for seven years. Her most recent photographic journey was to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, in October of 2007. More recent trips include travel to the West Coast in December of 2009, and a stay in Chicago in the summer of 2010. Her current camera is a Canon Digital Rebel, which she uses with a 60 mm Macro lens for florals, an 18-55 mm wide angle lens for landscapes, and a 75-300 mm zoom lens for animals and some landscape images. Jessamyn earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2005. In April of 2010, she earned the degree of Master of Information Science with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction, from the University of Michigan. Jessamyn was named after the American Quaker author, Jessamyn West, who is well-known for such books as The Friendly Persuasion, Except for Me and Thee, and The Life I Really Lived, among numerous others.