Photographer uses art to affect others, help deal with personal loss

By Sunnie Dawn Smith

Mackenzee “Mac” Crosby repose, some of the rawness and realceived her first camera in her ness comes from the moments when early teens. the model isn’t quite ready yet for It was a present from her father. the image. It can be when the figure While almost everyone already has in the photograph is still preparing or cameras on their phones, Crosby had still thinking – perhaps even lost in been wanting a real camera to take their own thoughts – before they are pictures and develop new skills. She fully ready to be photographed. was overjoyed when her father preThe strong emotions conveyed sented her with it at Christmas. through Crosby’s still images draw the At first, she would just take it on famviewer in closer just as the act of takily road trips, but one day she took ing photographs has brought Crosby a close-up picture of her cousin and even closer to her own deepest emoeverything changed. She dove into tions. For instance, she loves taking portrait photography. photographs of weddings. Some are “I wasn’t very good at first,” Crosby beautiful and genuine while others said. “But then again no one is when may be tense, but they are all differthey are first getting started.” ent. This assessment says a lot about However, the most difficult wedding Crosby and the way she approaches for her to photograph was a month her art. She is always striving to be after her father Jeff Crosby – the better and always pushing herself former assistant chief of police for to develop her own cohesive style. Ada and City of Ada safety direcInstead of letting her own perspective tor – killed himself. His daughter and shape her photography, Crosby has he had been very close, so it was a instead allowed her photography to difficult time for her. While she knew shape who she is. shooting a wedding – a public dec“Now I view everything through a lens laration of love and joy – might be perspective instead of a regular huMackenzee “Mac” Crosby has allowed photography to shape her view of the difficult, she was not anticipating the man perspective,” Crosby said. world, including coping with the loss of the father who gave her first camera father-daughter dance. She held it This gives her a different way of lookto her as a Christmas present. PHOTO BY NICHOLAS GEISLER together, but the experience changed ing at the world. It gives her distance the way she looked at photography. and perspective and allows her to step back and see things a little While before she would consider what kind of images she would more clearly. This is one of the reasons why she eventually wants want if it was her wedding, now it held a different kind of importo move into photojournalism, though she loves art photography tance that taking pictures of a father-daughter dance would never and portraiture. Through photojournalism, she can document the have. world around her – whether it be the commonplace or the exNot long after that, Crosby photographed a funeral. Again, this traordinary – through the distance of the lens and let the images was a difficult job for her to take, especially in the wake of her speak for themselves. grief. Yet, it was a healing experience for her as she was able to Through photography, Crosby can convey thoughts and emotions. capture the raw and real moments of human emotion and able to “I’ve always been a bit of an antisocial person, and this allows me provide the family with images that document the love they had to express myself without words,” Crosby said. for the deceased in the immediate aftermath of grief. Once again, Instead of expressing herself verbally, Crosby does so with lightphotography shaped Crosby and her perspective on life. ing, shadows, color and movement. Even though a photograph is a Crosby acknowledges that she would be nowhere without all the still image, it can still convey tremendous amounts of movement support she received from her friends and family. Her mother through the posing of models and the moments she chooses to Shana Simon and her father were always her biggest supporters as capture. they cheered her on, encouraging her to keep moving forward and Right now, one of the things that Crosby is focusing on the most finding her own way. Richard Barron, a well-known local in the is developing a consistent and recognizable style. She would best world of photography, has been her mentor since she was in junior describe her own photography as “hauntingly beautiful.” There high school and first started taking pictures. is a certain raw moodiness to her work that she captures though Crosby’s work can be found on Instagram @holymackerell or on lighting, angles and posing. Even though she does have her models her website macsphotographs.com.