Family Photographer | Grandmother McLain

In the late spring of 2000, long before I became a photographer,  most my friends packed their swimming trunks and coolers of PBR to head to the beaches that dot the east coast. In droves, they hopped in vans to make the drive from Tennessee to rented condos, hotels and motels. As I packed my bag, I felt a small pain knowing that I would not be going with them to experience the certain debauchery that is senior beach week. However, I knew that my senior trip experience would be just as memorable. 

For the next weeks my grandmother Betty McLain (pictured) and I had our own version of debauchery getting wasted on some of the best sauce the world can provide: Gullfoss waterfall in Iceland, Catherine's palace in Russia, the cobblestoned streets in Poland, the fjords of Norway, and the flowers that line the many islands of Sweden's Stockholm. Sure enough, moments into our trip, I had forgotten about the wet t-shirt contests, beer pong tournaments and drunk tank stints that I was missing. 

Fifteen years later, I am now beginning to understand what an incredible gift it was to spend the summer before university with one of the most interesting, intelligent and giving women in the world. This summer my grandmother gave me another gift. She let me photograph her holding one of her most priced pieces of jewelry (my grandfather and grandmother's wedding rings that are saudered together).