Terrie Gray started her professional life as a science teacher, but if you were to walk in her classroom, you wouldn’t see bulletin boards covered with posters of frog dissections – instead you’d see prints of famous paintings, especially colorful impressionistic works. Her goal was to surround her students with beauty and help them appreciate good art.
Now, as a photographer, she has similar goals – to share the beauty of the natural world and to help her viewers increase their appreciation of and desire to protect wild animals and spaces.
After moving to Folsom in 2008, Terrie met a scuba-diving friend who talked her into replacing her point-and-shoot camera with a professional-quality Nikon and getting certified as an underwater photographer. From that point on, photography became a serious passion; she refined her craft through a series of local, online, and field-based learning opportunities.
Gradually, Terrie’s photography started gaining recognition. A few underwater and macro photos won online contests on social media. In 2016-2018 a variety of her photos were published in the magazines and book produced by the World Best Top Photographer Association. In 2021 Terrie’s photo “Making the Turn” won first place that association’s Terry & Hyon Bixler Image of the Year Award. Prior to her participation with Gold Country Artists Gallery she’s had a few pieces shown locally, in Washington state, and in an exhibit in the Netherlands.
Terrie jokes that “if it’s alive, I’ll take pictures of it,” but some subjects, like wild horses, are more compelling than others. In 2016 she discovered that herds of wild mustangs still exist and can be found within driving distance. So far, her favorite places to see wild horses are near Mono Lake in California, and by the Salt River near Mesa, Arizona.
One thing that Terrie finds most rewarding about her photography is hearing people say, “Thank you for being my eyes! I will never go where you went, but now I can experience the beauty of it through your photography.”
