At university I thought I wanted to make documentaries for PBS so I transferred from Villanova University to Temple University's prestigious Radio Tele-Film program. As a lark and a filler I signed up for Basic Photography. To this day I will always remember the photograph that changed my life- two soccer players, a ball, a line, and a referee ready to snap his flag. It captured me, enraptured me and I've never looked back.

Now several years later I 'm a successful photojournalist with my images having beenpublished throughout the world.

One of my most insprational assignments was in 2006 when I was honored to be the exclusive photographer for Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro while he was at The Univerity of Pennsylvania's New Bolton center after he was injured in the Preakness race. My photograph of him above flying above the recovery pool after surgery was picked by Time magazine as "One of the Top Photographs of 2006" and was seen on every major newspaper and TV outlets the next day. It was wonderful experience to be in is presence and inspired me to work on a book of text and photographs about him called For the Love of Barbaro that will hopefully be published someday. Currently that same photograph is in the American Museum of Natural History on a 6 x7 ft panel in the exhibit The Horse! Along with a handful of other photos it is currently in an exhibit at the Racing Museum in Saratoga, NY.

Through my adventures with BARBARO I was also chosen for the "Best of ASMP - 2007" for my documentary chronicles of Barbaro. You may view my interview and photographs at http://asmp.org/culture/bestof2007/Pierce/index.php

This year I was also chosen to be featured in New York Times best selling author Ellyn Spragin's book "If I Knew When" which was released this past spring and is a compilation of letters from famous woman in their 30's to their younger selves.

Currently I'm contracted for several news organizations, magazines and private corporate clients including The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Daily News and the Associated Press, PR Week, MMM Marketing magazine, Campbell's Soup and The University of Pennsylvania's Vet School, McDonald's and Nustar energy. Some additional magazines and newspapers that my work has appeared in are Newsweek, Time, People, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, LA Times, Washington Post, Wall St. Journal , San Francisco Examiner, Germany's Glick, Australia's Good Weekend Magazine and many many others. Some of my PR clients include Verizon Wireless, The Tierney Group, Devin & Powers, Wendy's International & Vault Communications.

My love for animals has always been a driving force in my life so ten years ago I went on assignment for Philadelphia magazine to Winnipeg, Canada, posing as a horse buyer. Undercover, I captured photos for a story on the slaughter of baby horses in the dark world of horse meat brokers. I carried a hidden camera onto farms, stockyards and in auction houses. Along with photos that gave me nightmares, I was given a 4 month old foal Toby, that was rescued during the shoot. Along with Maddie, my Fox terrier, who was rescued from a pet store, she is my best friend.

In 2001 and still a tad dangerous, I spent 2 years of unrestricted access riding along with the Philadelphia Police department. Shooting black & white grainy film I managed to capture homicides, shootings, car chases, drug raids and many aspects of being a cop in the 21st century. A photo essay was published in Philadelphia Magazine with the hopes of expanding it to a book. I had retained a publisher, but sadly 9-11 happened and I was unable to find suitable insurance to cover my volatile photos. Though even though I was unable to put my adventures into a book, a dozen photographs were made into an installation at Philadelphia's City Hall where they remain to this day.

In 2006 & 2007 I volunteered my skills to the Heart gallery, a national non profit project where photographers working with DHS photograph kids up for adoption with the hopes of getting them adopted. It was a wonderful experience that I hope to do again soon.

And finally this past fall I completed a 3 year project with the Philadelphia Mural Arts program documenting people in North Philadelphia that inspired 7 landmark murals with their stories. Based on interviews, the photographs were exhibited at the Thomas Eakins house in Philadelphia and are featured in a book called "My North Philly" which available at http://muralarts.org/shop/

That's about it. I'm always in search of new projects, whether they are editorial, marketing, corporate, portrait fine art or PR or animals. I''m always willing to talk with anyone to discuss their photographic needs and budgets. And yes, occasionally I do shoot a wedding.

You can reach me at 215.432.3039 or sabinalouisepierce@earthlink.net Tke time and please browse my site if you have time. I hope you enjoy the images as much as I did taking them.

Sabina

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My dog Maddie and me on a shoot.