Ever since she picked up her father’s camera at the age of twelve, photography has remained Rachael Short's passion. In 2000, this California native moved to Santa Barbara to study photography at the Brooks Institute of Photography. Over the following decade Rachael established a thriving wedding photography and portraiture business. In addition, with an artist colleague she launched Gallery EXPOSED in the heart of Carmel. Her formal shooting pursuits ended abruptly in 2010 when her neck broke in a car accident, leaving her a quadriplegic.

Rachael now divides her time between physical therapy and capturing images with her iPhone. Photographs of nature, people and places allow her to explore the relationship between light and shadow—images she transforms into platinum prints.

"I used to hate the iPhone, then I broke my neck, now it is my camera.  This has changed my subject, my approach and my technique.  My process has been simplified and in a way this is making my images simpler, more pure and raw.  I capture what I see in my everyday life, the little things I used to walk by now draw me in.  My life has slowed down, this has changed what I see and how I see it.  I still love photographing nature, light, and life in simple black and white.  I never would have chosen the iPhone as my camera, but I am very thankful that it allows me to continue my art.” - Rachael Short