I (b. 1987) identify as a photographic explorer, herbivore, neat freak, and amateur audiophile. I am a Leo on the cusp. I will eat or drink anything with pumpkin in it. I wear my heart on my sleeve.

I hail from the Bratwurst Capital of America, small-town Bucyrus, Ohio, where I was raised with permed hair on proper grammar, Coca Cola, Batman, pro football, and rock and roll. I am from a modestly small and eccentric family with an affinity for felines and all things metaphysical. From a young age, I exercised my imagination, creating and illustrating comic books with my sister and recording soundtracks to nonexistent movies. I have desperately tried to retain my sincere and expressive nature despite where I am or what I'm doing.

In June of 2010, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the School Visual Communication at Ohio University in beautiful Athens, Ohio, where I majored in commercial photography while also studying sociology and philosophy. With one car load of clothes, toiletries, and dishes, I moved to Chicago one week later and have yet to look back. I am currently available for portraits, weddings, and editorial work anywhere in the city, and I do tend to travel back to Ohio as well.

My images strive to unveil the beauty, simplicity, and vulnerability in both the ordinary and the contrived, and I'm fond of working with minimal tools. I shoot from life, and I am committed to expressing myself genuinely. My primary passion is people, but I am inspired by domestic spaces, night time, music, changing seasons, dreams, and the complexity of human relationships. My personal work is purely autobiographical.

I can be reached at 1.224.545.9849 for assignments, inquiries, or a slice of deep dish pizza.

interview on Mull It Over

e-mail erica.mckeehen@gmail.com
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(photo by Daniel Elliott Lange)