Biography

Until the autumn of 1972, Elaine Pearsons was the queen of the Kodak Instamatic, snapping pictures of friends, family, and a million Cape Cod sunsets from the beaches where she grew up. It took the bedazzlement of a northern New Hampshire autumn to prompt her to borrow a friend's 35mm camera. Elaine received a quick tutorial and wandered off down a leafy lane and into her future.

Color photography became her passion. Ten years passed as Elaine peered at life through the viewfinder, searching for fresh perspectives as well as for the richest, most saturated color she could elicit from film. She interviewed fellow photographers and lab technicians for their knowledge while experimenting with various methods of producing intense saturation. Ultimately, Elaine began to hand-alter her pictures with colored markers, photo dyes, and acrylic paints.

Since those early years, Elaine has learned to wield an exacto knife with surgical precision, applying a multitude of cutout images to the photo surface, juxtapositioning several realities within one picture. Her personal law of physics shows that if disparate realities are placed side by side, fantasy will occur. Having one's psyche tweaked brings a pleasant enchantment to many viewers. After years of coloring, cutting out, and gluing images from adobe houses, costumed Rotweillers, Scottish castles, and vintage automobiles, Elaine has discovered that the sky is pretty much the limit with this process.

Elaine has lived in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. She has traveled and photographed in the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, and India.

Elaine's commissioned portraits have appeared in the collections of Hollywood studio executives, directors, and producers including: Mr. David Greenwalt, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Lear, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Ovitz, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Donner, and singer/songwriter of "The Rose," Amanda McBroom.