Pearson Photography

Biography

I have been a photographer all my life because it is what I love to do.

Celia Pearson has been a fine art and assignment photographer for three decades. She grew up on a farm outside of Washington, DC, and spent summers on the coast of Maine. While pursuing undergraduate studies at Swarthmore College and then Georgetown University, Pearson began to study photography with Richard Bond in Annapolis, Maryland. Her initial interest was casual, but Bond's lectures sparked a passion that would define her adult life.

Soon Pearson was exhibiting in Annapolis galleries. Then in 1979 she established Pearson Photography and began to accept assignments. For years she turned her attention to being a "pro", gradually mastering medium and large format film based photography and becoming an accomplished black-and-white and color printer.

Fifteen years ago Pearson made two significant changes in her career. One was a return to the inner driven work that was the source of her initial inspiration as a photographer. Her affinity for photographing with the camera often only inches from her subjects is well known. Trips to SE Asia in 2008 and early 2009, which she describes as transforming, are sending her in an new direction as she continues to be fascinated by the intimate view. Also in the generative stage is a study of how we inhabit the places we call home. The artist's work has been shown in galleries in Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Florida, and Washington, DC., and is in the permanent collection of the Academy Museum of Art in Easton, Maryland.

As she was returning to her fine art roots, the second change occurred in her assignment business. Pearson decided to establish a specialty, the seeds of which were already evident in her portfolio: photographs of designed spaces created around natural light. She has earned a national reputation for her images of interiors, architecture, and gardens, and her assignment portfolio has included publications such as Metropolitan Home, Southern Accents, Coastal Living, Chesapeake Life, Style Magazine, and Residential Architect.

In 2004 Pearson added two coffee table books to her credits: Wayne L. Good, Architect: Tradition, Elegance, Repose, which is a monograph published in four languages; and Pure SEA GLASS, written and published by Richard LaMotte. The very popular Pure SEA GLASS has had unprecedented success for a self-published book. Over 80,000 copies have been sold to date. Sea Glass Publishing has created collateral products with Pearson sea glass photographs, and the artist signed a contract in 2007 with Bruce McGaw Graphics, one of the largest poster companies in the world, to release 16 sea glass fine art posters from the book.

Recently Pearson has begun to accept speaking engagements. These talks are tailored to her specific audiences. Rooted in her artist's journey, they reflect her wonder for the visible world and her fascination with the art of observation and the power of inspiration.

Pearson lives in Annapolis, Maryland. She is a member of ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) and the Maryland Federation of Art, where she served on the board as fundraising chair for four years. In mid-career Pearson received an honorary YWCA TWIN Award (Tribute to Women and Industry). As a result of the book Pure SEA GLASS Pearson's work came to the attention of Maryland Public Television and was the subject of a segment on ArtWorks in October 2004. Pearson was the 2007 recipient of the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County's Annie Award for Visual Arts.