ABOUT ANNE
Anne T. Converse is a New England-based, freelance documentary photographer. For the past 40 years, Anne has been taking pictures that reflect her love for horses, wooden boats, people and places. She graduated in 1970 from Endicott College (Beverly, MA) and furthered her education at the New England School of Photography (Boston, MA) from 1971 to 1973. Her travels have taken her throughout the United States and Alaska, to Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, Nepal, Africa, India, Seychelles Islands, Caribbean, and Granada.
"I grew up with photographs - the black and white snapshots of relatives I never knew - their stately portraits, their antics caught candidly, and their display of fondness for each other. Photographs from LIFE magazine, National Geographic and the US Camera books of the 50s opened my eyes to many places while documenting the lives of the people who lived there. All of these things shaped my intuitive sense of photography and the way I work today.
This collection of photographs is just a fraction of the thousands of photos I have taken over the years. Although I have been working in digital format the past seventeen years, I continue to covet my Leica M6 film camera, and have bought a Leica M9, C-Lux and Delux digital cameras. The ease and mobility, especially the quiet shutter of the Leica, make them wonderful cameras to use for street photography, candid portraits and travel. I tend to like to “shoot from the hip”, and they are perfect for capturing 'fleeting moments'. My Canon cameras are my choice for the sailing regattas and some of the thoroughbred photography.
My photographs are ‘straight’ - no filters - with a minimum of digital manipulation of color and density. I prefer to edit and crop while I am photographing and I rarely crop a finished photograph. I study the quality of the light in relation to the subject matter, finding a balance in order to create an image. I continue to be drawn to the still image, fascinated by the way it captures a slice of life in seconds. Photography will always be my passion in life and I intend to photograph until I reach the pearly gates! I believe, 'When you worry about age, it inhibits your imagination!'"
Anne is co-author and photographer of the book entitled "Wood, Wind & Water, A Story of the Opera House Cup Race of Nantucket", released in June, 2002. She is also associate producer for the video documentary entitled "Wood, Wind & Water, Classic Yacht Racing in Antigua Regatta, 1999".