about katie elasmar

I’m a born-and-raised Jersey girl, which basically means I come with strong opinions, very little  fear, the mouth of a sailor, and... a camera.

My relationship with cameras started as a bit of a trust issue. Growing up, my dad had to photograph everything, with full on flash, always. My childhood photos are a gallery of me flinching with my eyes closed. Looking back, I now know where my anxiety first started.

We were a fairly nomadic family. Multiple summers were spent driving to Alaska. The day school let out, my family packed into a camper and drove to Alaska, coming home just a few days before school started. Upon coming home, my dad couldn't wait to host dinner parties where friends were forced to sit through full on slide-projector presentations of our trip.  I didn't know it then but it taught me something vital: Life is meant to be documented and shared.

Somewhere along the way, I developed an eye for the moments people usually don't think about. For years, I just mentally archived them—the way light hit a face or a split second of raw emotion—until I moved to Saudi Arabia in my late 20s. Living abroad and traveling the world changed my frequency. I started to pick up a camera with intention, traveling and shooting my way through different countries and cultures. I wasn’t just taking pictures anymore; I was learning how to tell a story without having to say anything.