about

Photography has been a passion of mine ever since I can remember. Growing up in the rural town of Maquoketa, Iowa, I would walk up and down our gravel road taking picture after picture. My first job was at Costello's Old Mill Gallery, an art gallery/frame shop where I started learning about color and design. I graduated from Wartburg College, in Waverly, IA, where I studied creative writing, art history and photography. The dark room became my new favorite place and it took me 10 years before I would make the jump into the modern age of digital photography.


photo taken by Betsy Preston 2012

Rochester, MN has been my home since 2002. I worked at Herring Art and Frame, Proex Portrait Studios and Photo Processing, and Artistic Framers before I ended up at Carson Art and Frame where I've worked for the past 9 years. In 2012 I attended 3 of photographer Peter Wong's Photography Workshops to the North Shore of Lake Superior where my love of photography was revived and I started my business, erin sinnwell photography, in January of 2013.


artwork on display at Gallery 211, Rochester, MN

My business consists of selling my fine art prints and canvases online and doing portraiture photography. I prefer my portrait style to be very natural and I don't like posing my subjects—however I do understand that Grandma will be unhappy if there is not a good shot of your child smiling and looking at the camera. I like to photograph people in their natural element and when they are least expecting it. I love portraiture of all kinds—babies, kids, pets, mamas and dadas, seniors, engagement and family events—however my favorite is maternity pictures. I LOVED being pregnant with all three of my pregnancies, which makes expectant mothers a favorite subject of mine.

My fine art photography consists of many genres—still life, landscapes, abstracts, wildlife and animals. I really like cemeteries and old dilapidated barns. I photograph landscapes using a minimalist ideal—being able to convey a strong message using as little as possible. For example, my photography "Sunrise over Lake Superior" shows only a small amount of the lake at the bottom of the photograph and most of it is the wide expanse of the sky turning a deeper and deeper blue towards the top. I like leaving the viewer wanting more—cropping tight and making the viewer wonder what they are missing. My North Shore Ice Series portrays this in that I used my macro lens and cropped in very tightly so you have to look for a second before you know what you're looking at.


photo taken by Jennifer Grandouiller

Being that I have a background in art and art history, my photography and style has been influenced by a number of artists. Ellen Wagener is a pastel artist originally from Maquoketa and grew up in DeWitt Iowa and now lives in Arizona. I have admired the colors and simplicity of her Iowa corn fields for many years. The following artists have all had an impact on my photography: Jane Chukas, Patrick J Costello, Valerie Jardin, Deb Lee Carson and Peter Wong.

Besides fine art and portrait photography, I have been volunteering my time for organizations in the area. My work can be found at our church and on our church website, for the Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester and starting in 2014 for the Rochester Area Habitat for Humanity.

— Erin Sinnwell, 2014

exposure
  • Sept 2010 - Nov 2013  Fine artwork on display and for sale at Gallery 211 in downtown Rochester, Minnesota
  • July 2013 - September 2013  Show of my artwork entitled "Under a Midwest Sky" at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center in Maquoketa, Iowa
  • Fall of 2013  Two pieces of artwork chosen to be part of the Choral Arts Ensemble Concert ("Blue Skies on Honeymoon Trail" & "Sunrise at Tettegouche State Park") Two concerts—one at Assisi Heights and one at the Rochester Art Center
  • Winter of 2014  One piece chosen to be part of a juried show/exhibit title "Trees" at Outside the Lines Gallery in Dubuque, Iowa. Piece shown "Sunrise at Tettegouche State Park"
  • Spring/Summer 2014  4 pieces chosen to be part of the Sontes art show in Rochester, MN. Pieces on display and for sale are: "Fall Reflections," "Purple Tulip #1," "Sunrise at Tettegouche State Park," & "Rocky Shoreline at Gooseberry Falls."
  • August 18 - October 4, 2014  The photograph "Broken Hearts" was chosen to be part of the exhibit and publication Poetography IV at the Crossings Gallery in Zumbrota, MN.
  • 2015 to present  canvas prints on display at Bryron Eye Care in Bryon, MN
  • 2016 to present  canvas prints on display at Olmsted Medical Center advanced vision diagnostics and LASIK services in Rochester, MN

artwork on display at Ohnward Fine Arts Center, Maquoketa, IA