Documentary projects
I
Sabina Louise Pierce
A photographer with a photojournalist style
Photography is...
My passion. It's what gets me up in the morning and what I dream of at night.
Documenting, reacting, capturing, and creating what happens in front of me is play...pure play, and I am lucky, no blessed that I can make a living doing what I love.
I picked up my first camera when I was 8, took a photo of my little pony close-up and contorted. Though after getting that photo back from the lab it wasn't like any photo I'd ever seen, so at 8 years old I decided photography wasn't a career for me. I tore it up, put down the camera and never picked one up again.
Looking back, I wish I had kept that photo.
While at university 10 years later I signed up for basic photography on a lark and to this day I will always remember the photograph from that class 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 years later I'm a successful professional photographer with images taken and published throughout the world.
For my most current project I just finished traveling the country shooting for a book that I am co-authoring with writer Kit Feldman
The Culinary Canine, Great Chefs that cook for their dogs!
It is slated to come out September 27th 2011 published by Bowtie Press with Launch parties in New York, Philly, San francisco and LA . I am quite excited as the concept was my mine and the photos turned out decent! It isnt easy making each chef and their dog look unique when your shooting 30 of them. But I think I pulled it off.
Some of my newspaper,magazines and corporate clients are- The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Daily News, The Wall st. Journal, PR Week, MMM magazine, The Chronicle for Higher Education, Health Affairs Journal, The Associated Press, SC magazine, University of Penn's Penn Gazette magazine, The University of Pennsylvania's Vet School, PENN MEDICINE, Campbell's Soup , McDonald's, Ronald McDonald House, Verizon Wireless, TD Bank, CVS/Caremark, Astra Zeneca, Wendy's, McDonalds, Enterprise Rent a car, Tastykake, Temple University, Holy Family University, Nustar energy, Blank Rome , Kravco, Preit, Blank Rome and Truijillo, Rodriguez &Richardson LLC
My photos have appeared in Newsweek, Time, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, People, Smithsonian, Philadelphia Inquirer, Bloodhorse, Philadelphia Daily News, L.A.Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Examiner, Germany's Glick, Australia's Good Weekend Magazine, ESPN, NBC sports and abunchmore plus a few books .
Some of my PR & Marketing clients includeThe Tierney Group, Devine & Powers & Vault Communications and Brian Communications.
My non profit &pro bono work includes The Committee of Seventy , The Philadelphia SPCA, The Hope Project & the Philadelphia Mural Arts program.
Besides being gifted with spending the day with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama photographing, my most memorable assignment was when I was choosen as exclusive photographer for Barbaro, the injured Kentucky Derby winner as he was convalesing at The University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton center. My photograph of Barbaro rising above the recovery pool (Pegasus as some like to call it) was picked by Time magazine as "One of the Best Photographs of 2006". That photograph was seen on every major news outlet including TV the next day. Even though the room was dark and I had to shoot with available light I cantvtake credit for it, itw as all him, Barbaro..
To be in the presence of such a bright and complex animal inspired me to create a book of text and photographs about him called For the Love of Barbaro that will hopefully be published someday when the economy is better. Though "Pegasus" is in the American Museum of Natural History traveling exhibit Horses on a 6 x7 ft panel and with a handful of my other photos is on exhibit at the Racing Museum in Saratoga, NY and the Kentucky Derby Musuem.
I was also chosen for the "Best of American Society of Media Photographers" 2007 for my photos of his struggle to live and how it concided with my own catstrophic horseback riding injury that should have left me paralyzied. You may view my interview and photographs at ASMP*
I am also featured in New York Times best selling author Ellyn Spragin's book "If I Knew When" which is a compilation of letters from famous woman in their 30's to their younger selves.And lastly, I completed a 3 year book project with the Philadelphia Mural Arts program documenting individuals in North Philadelphia that inspired 7 landmark murals. Along with interviews by Maria Moller, the photographs are featured in "My North Philly"
In my spare time I've enjoyed teaching photography as adjunct faculty at Temple University, and rowing, riding my rescue horse or playing with my two dogs. Its great to engage with young minds eager to explore the world visually and putting down the camera a bit so that I can be fresh for my next shoot. Though I always have my trusty Leica on hand, just in case....
Hope you enjoy my site, Sabina