Rfotofolio is pleased to name Rachael Short as the 2015 recipient of the Rfotofolio Grant.

We first learned of Rachael’s work in 2011, when we walked into her gallery, EXPOSED located in Carmel, California.

Rachael’s love of photography started at the age of twelve when her father let her borrow his Canon AE-1 manual SLR. Photography became Rachael’s passion and is to this day.  Following her studies at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Rachael established a thriving wedding photography and portraiture business.  She launched with her business partner, the  EXPOSED Gallery of Photography in Carmel.  Then her photographic journey changed abruptly in 2010 when her neck was broken in a car accident, leaving her a quadriplegic.

Rachael now captures her images using her iPhone.  “I used to hate the iPhone, then I broke my neck, now it is my camera.  This has changed my subject, my approach and my technique.  My process has been simplified and in a way this is making my images simpler, more pure and raw.  I capture what I see in my everyday life, the little things I used to walk by now draw me in.  My life has slowed down, this has changed what I see and how I see it.  I still love photographing nature, light, and life in simple black and white.   I never would have chosen the iPhone as my camera, but I am very thankful that it allows me to continue my art.”

My friend Kim Weston suggested creating platinum prints of my iPhone images, and a new path to my photography was sparked.  Of course it is not the same; I can’t feel the paper but I can see the image appear.  With his help we have created platinum prints.  This allowed me to see the iPhone in a different light.

Rachael is a board member at the Center of Photographic Art in Carmel, and earlier this year she curated her first show there, the Next Generation. “Being on the board is a way that I can give back to the community of photographers that have given me so much support.”  She has also taught classes on iPhone photography and will be having a show of her images in the fall of 2015.

Thank you Rachael for sharing your work with us, and for inspiring us.  A quote on Rachael’s wall states,  “It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” Confucius

To learn more about the work of Rachael Short please visit her site at, Rachael Short Photography.

The Rfotofolio Grant is funded by our generous supporters. Thank you.