I've been taking pictures since I was around 8 years old. My late Grandma Mimi bought me a Kodak Instamatic camera for my eighth birthday and I've been taking pictures ever since. Oftentimes, if I'm in a large group, pressing a camera to my nose makes people scream, "No more photos!" but ever since I began to focus on children, parents are always clamoring for more. As a teenager, I learned how to develop and print my own black & white film. At St. George's High School in Montreal (where I grew up), I produced most of the black & white photographs for my yearbook, the Green Dragon Review, the year I served as Editor-in-Chief. At Smith College, I taught a workshop during the month-long winter break, on how to photograph, develop and print black & white photographs. At Smith, I was also the Photography Editor for The Sophian, the student-run weekly newspaper. Some of my work was exhibited at Smith while I attended school. I spent my Junior Year of College living in Japan—first, spending the summer in Hakodate, Hokkaido, and then a whole year in Kyoto, the ancient capital. I stayed with a handful of local "homestay" families, studied Japanese, taught English, and took more photographs than I ever thought I would. After college, I lived in Paris for 2 years, where I used my knowledge of French, Japanese, and "Marketing", to work for such esteemed companies such as Dentsu, Sonia Rykiel, Hermes and Brother Electronics (at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville). Needless to say, my camera was never far from me while living in Europe, either. From 1992 to 2002 I spent 10 years in New York. My resume includes several years each at various companies including Takashimaya, Calvin Klein, Marvel Comics and dELiA*s catalog. In each position, I drew upon my linguistic and marketing skills, but I was never unaffected by the highly strong visual imagery that makes each of these companies great. I began Julie Scott Photography in January 2000, with the goal to capture (on film) the exceptional beauty of babies and children. I also had in mind the idea to make a career move that would enable me to have a flexible lifestyle for the time when I would become a mom. Since my move to Chappaqua in December 2002, I find myself surrounded by parents in my new community with like-minded goals. My technical training began as a teenager, processing film and printing photos at the Exploration Summer School of Welleseley College. Subsequently I have completed courses at the International School of Photography (ICP) and the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan, in addition to the Palm Beach Photographic Center in Florida. I am a member of the Professional Photographers' Association (PPA), a national organization. My passion for taking portraits has had me clicking away for most of my life, experimenting with lenses and cameras, angles and lighting. Only practice and experience differentiates me from my clients, who are all equally passionate about photographing their children. I have tried to tweak the snapshot-like photos from my own childhood all taken on that same-old green couch (sorry, Mom) into something more long-lasting and impactful. If you look carefully at my childrens' and family portraits, hopefully you will see a pared-down, timeless quality that I insist on; the clean lines of the Japanese aesthetic and Calvin Klein and the sometimes-animated style of Marvel characters and dELiA*s catalog. My goal is to make elegant, poignant photographs that will be cherished for generations. Building my portfolio and my clientele over the past few years has been exciting and rewarding. Nowadays, when I'm not working, my inspiration comes from my newest muse, my little girl Naomi Rose, born in February 2002.