Hi, I’m McKenzie.
At its core, photography is heart work. You want this milestone in your lives documented with a certain depth of emotion and creative intuition. That’s what I’ve been fine-tuning since 2013, when I photographed my first wedding and fell in love with this craft. Anyone can pick up a camera and take a photo, but it’s the context of who they are as a person that determines which moments they’re drawn to. So in that sense, my work as a photographer started long before I started creating pictures.
My 90’s childhood was spent exploring the forest, reading Beatrix Potter, playing imaginary dress-up, and dollhouse redesign involving wallpaper and hand-painted furniture. Long live a strong foundation of childhood magic! My parents owned a cafe and deli that sold imported European delicacies before Whole Foods did it. (And as much as I griped about it then, I credit my work ethic to endless hours spent interacting with customers there after school.) As a young adult I explored homesteading, raised sheep and chickens, canned jams and tomato sauce, lived in a drafty log cabin, and wrote and illustrated a children’s book about it.
My mom’s dad was a photographer and she grew up with a darkroom in her house. I grew up pouring through the hundreds of slides and square format prints he made of their 1960s childhood. Fast forward to my thirties when I became the family archivist and also learned that my grandfather on my dad’s side was also an amateur photographer, also with boxes of slides! Incorporating film into my work felt absolutely natural, almost like muscle memory.
I currently live with my partner Matt and our two little boys, Tom and Peter, in Baltimore, MD in a 1940’s-era home we renovated ourselves. We’re planning an exciting move to England (where Matt grew up) in 2026, and I’ll be traveling back and forth for weddings and family.
Matt and I met through our mutual love for art. Matt is a painter, and when we first started spending time together, we would stay up all night painting side by side. It was very romantic. Our life is a happy one- full of art, gardening, taking our kids on bike rides and playdates at parks, and encouraging each other every day to continue working towards our dreams as creative individuals.
CLICK PLAY below to watch a circa 2018 (pre kids) video about our own love story. This was in our little house by the creek days.
