What makes Erika Masterson’s black & white portraits so special?

“Erika has the amazing ability to make her clients feel natural and at ease” - Jackie Strauss

To create timeless images, one must recognize the moments of sincerity in the subject. Her vision is to create sincere and natural images that embrace the inner beauty of her subject.

Technical Skill and Experience

Erika first entered the darkroom to watch her father print at age 14. She later received her degree in photography and has been following her passion for the last 18 years.

All of Erika's final prints are on silver fiber based papers. Few things in life require the craftsmanship and skill that go into the creation of an original silver gelatin black and white photograph.

Digitally, nothing can in her estimation, compare with an original silver gelatin black and white photograph that is tray printed in a darkroom. With only a handful of artists truly producing black and white photographs the way they were intended, Erika made the decision to continue shooting film and to offer each black and white image printed by hand. All the images are archivally treated in order to create a piece of art to pass down from generation to generation,then all the prints are selenium toned for the ultimate beauty and permanence. There are no cut corners.

Erika Hand processes all her black and white film and hand prints each proof and final enlargements of her images. She maintains total control over quality, from shooting the image, to completion of your artwork.