Brownie cameras were torn apart in my chubby, childhood hands. Polaroid prints were as valuable as gold. I was told I wasted too much Instamatic film. Even so, pictures flashed and framed around me. My circle of friends and the motorcade of life always gave me fresh opportunities to shoot. In the 1980s, I embarked on a photographic internship. I studied the classics of photography: Lange, Arbus, Steiglitz and the Family of Man. Later, my love of music led to rock-band photography, captured on ripped sofas in nightclubs, where I experimented with lighting and shutter speeds.

In 1997, I walked away from a profitable career in advertising to advance my photography. I studied, assisted teachers and worked for photo labs. From pinhole art to fashion photography and "gritty" documentary portraits, local photographers helped round out my education. Attending classes and constantly working in the darkroom, I experimented with light and shadow. I enjoy the unique color images from creating Polaroid emulsion lifts and transfers.

Teaching photography is my loved occupation, a wonderful mutual learning experience. For years I taught in Little Rock art schools and now have my own little school of private instruction. We process negatives, experiment with artistry and employ chemistry carefully timed with the clock's second hand.

I constantly pursue the ways and means to create the illusive photographic image. Meant to last, my archival photographs are printed by hand with trusted materials. Each picture is unique, even if taken from the same piece of film.

- Rita Henry