Elizabeth Opalenik came to photography in an unorthodox way – but when you read her story you will see that it is not much different from the way Elizabeth has gone through life.
She was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania that had an outhouse until she was 12. This might sound normal for someone in their golden years – but Elizabeth, while not under 45, is not that old! She stayed close to home (dong clerical jobs) until she was 21 when she decided it was time to move. Opalenik put a map on a lazy susan in the middle of the table and spun it. Wherever her finger landed was where she was going to move. Westport, Connecticut came up the winner. She spent her time running jazz clubs, working with a construction company and dabbling in photography.
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In 1979 a friend of hers mentioned the Maine Photographic Workshop in Rockport, Maine as a great place to take classes in photography. Elizabeth went to take a 2-week workshop, came home and moved out of Connecticut and up to Maine for the 1 1/2 year residents program. She added time onto that by working for the workshop over the summer. A student over the summer swept Elizabeth off her feet and in 1992 they moved to Oakland, California and have been married ever since.
Elizabeth says that she found her calling – she loves photography and loves to teach workshops. She also does some editorial work, private workshops, selling her artwork and doing portraits of people. She started working with light and water images when she was at the workshops and has continued to build on this portfolio ever since.
