Elisha Rain was born a photographer. Her first formal introduction to photography was in her elementary school darkroom in Eugene, Oregon in 1977.

After working as a staff photographer for her Bainbridge Island high school yearbook and newspaper, she began her formal studies in photography at the University of Oregon in 1988 with artists Dan Powell, Regina Rubin and Terri Warpinski.

After three years at the U of O, she transferred to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to finish her BFA degree in fine art black and white photography. At the SMFA, she studied with artists William Burke, S.A. Bachman, Sandra Stark and Jim Dow.

Upon finishing her degree, Elisha worked as a photo editor at Time Warner in NYC where she was honored to meet and work with many of her photographic idols – Jerry Uelsmann, Duane Michaels, Sandy Skoglund and of course, Alfred Eisenstadt.

During her time in Boston and in NYC, Elisha developed her passion for “women’s issues” with a strong focus on the culture of childbirth in the United States. Elisha worked with the Childbirth Education Association in Boston and New York. In New York, she worked as a doula for pregnant teenage mothers and served on the board of directors for CEA/MNY. It was also during this time that she began photographing pregnant women both as a documentary project as well as a personal art pursuit.

In 1996, she returned to her native Northwest. Upon her return to Seattle, Elisha worked at Cornish College of the Arts before starting her own portrait photography business in 1999, the same year she gave birth to her daughter. She continued her studies in childbirth through the Seattle Midwifery School doula training program

In Elisha’s portraits, she incorporates her training in visual artistry and expression, creating images that move the viewer one step away from literal reality and instead ask him or her to look deeper into the person, relationship or situation they are seeing.

E. Rain Images, with it’s focus on images of pregnant women and families, has allowed Elisha to be a part of generating the exciting transition in our culture from concealing the pregnant body to celebrating its beauty.
 

To me, photography means using a camera to capture an expression of something greater than what is apparent to the eye, something deeper and elemental – it is a search for truth.

Please take a few moments to look through the galleries on this website if you are interested in working with me to create a portrait. If the images speak to you, then I look forward to meeting you.

Elisha Rain