New Ways of Seeing with Artist-Photographer Elisa Terry

BY KENDALL HARDIN // ARTWORK & PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELISA TERRY

In today’s Instagram-saturated world, where everyone is a self-proclaimed photographer armed with a smartphone, the work of a true photographic artist jumps out from all the rest.

While brilliant photography can be reduced to four simple concepts – light, composition, technique, and subject – it is hardly a simple art. Moreover, making a livelihood as a professional photographer requires not only a gifted eye combined with passion and perseverance but also a head for business and a heart that recognizes life’s unique moments.

I was first drawn to Elisa Terry by her photographs of Ballet120 dancers. While dance suggests movement, her shot of a sensual supple body juxtaposed within a weathered door frame caught my eye. It is a frozen “landscape” of the dancer’s body and yet so revealing about the artform. She challenges the canon by making us “see” the dance performer differently.

Dancer-Aerialist Samantha Bergman in Blue Label Dancewear

I was intrigued to discover how Elisa propelled her reputation and business as a young photographer in Las Vegas. Her tale is half inspired artist and half intuitive entrepreneur.

Armed with two degrees in industrial design from Auburn University, she ventured to Las Vegas to work as an exhibit and environmental designer at Derse, where she met the man she would marry. Later, when her son Elias was born, she focused on raising her child at home. She wanted to re-engage professionally when he entered school, but re-entry was challenging.

“I couldn’t return to the exhibit design field, which is very specialized here in Las Vegas. With my husband Logan as an executive of one of the major companies, I couldn’t very well work for the competition. And I don’t think I could handle my husband as my boss,” she jokes. “So I launched my business from home.”

Elisa returned to her roots as an artist and photographer to pursue her love of the arts. Her signature style combines the use of vibrant color and bold contrast in unique settings to bring her subjects to life.

Hip Hop Dancer CJ Edwards

She started by photographing friends’ weddings, graduations, engagements, and even family/pet portraits and branched out to work with scores of artists, athletes, community events, and fashion retailers to complement her own creations in painting, illustration, and photography.

“I love working collaboratively with all kinds of artists and athletes in action,” Elisa professes. During the pandemic, she photographed a variety of artists so they could enhance their websites. “I wanted to show them as real people who are talented, trained professionals driven in their professions. I wanted them to have a voice in the darkness.”

Her current collaborations extend to commercial fashion photography for Child on the Go clothing lines for the Lander Company in Portland and Blue Label Dancewear designed by Las Vegas dancer Summer Smith.

“I’m not exactly an artist’s rep, but I play an important role in reflecting a performer on and off stage,” Elisa notes. “My 10-year-old son has become obsessed with street dancing and pleaded for a private lesson with local phenomenon Bailey Muñoz, winner of So You Think You Can Dance in 2019. This request led to an unbelievable photographic session with the two of them I’ve been able to capture here in Las Vegas!”

Occasionally, Elisa donates pro bono talent to local causes. She photographed the Covid Memorial and covers the Walk for Apraxia at the Springs Preserve each year to provide support for this neurological motor disorder affecting children’s ability to coordinate speech and movement.

“I like to integrate design and photography,” she explains. “And I have my camera and sketchbook with me wherever I go.” Elisa also creates large painting commissions and sells her photographs of landscapes and cityscapes online. “My money all goes to more lenses, brushes, and paint,” she shrugs with a grin.

Bailey “Bailrok” Muñoz, winner of 2019 So You Think You Can Dance

One of her newer pursuits is hand-painting custom footwear and bags, especially for street artists, Cirque performers, and groups performing in dance competitions. Her creations are 100% scuff-proof, rendered in oil-based acrylics, and sealed with a clear matt fixative.

Galaxy-Themed Tap Shoes

Perhaps Elisa’s most endearing venture so far is her Mini-Me Project for kids. “All children are artists until they’re told they’re not!” she paraphrases John Lennon.

“Basically, I work with individual children to find out what interests them,” she explains. “Then I start an illustration and send it back with suggestions of creative ways to enhance and display the work, and the child finishes it. I ask the parents to send me images of the kids working on their masterpieces, which I then post on social media.”

All of Elisa’s photos are memories in time. “I like to work outdoors in natural light. All my shots are in motion with a high shutter speed – even my portraits are never posed in a studio. While I look forward to working more with local sports teams and Olympic athletes, I enjoy covering everything in music and dance from classical ballet to hip hop.”

Desert Landscape with Waterfall

For Elisa, close collaboration with the people she photographs provides the magic. “Together, we choose the setting and anything special like props and clothes – all of which sets the mood for capturing the moment.”

“The Day the Music Died” 30” x 40” acrylic of John Lennon

On her website, she sums up her approach. “Viewing art and photography should be a liberating moment in time. The content should be secondary to the meaningful communication of emotion through color and composition.”

While Elisa’s signature style is dynamic and evocative, her work always feels infused with graceful ease. She pulls us in to observe the world through the lens of her craft, leaving each viewer with new insights, awareness, and wonder.

She’s definitely one artist to follow as her career skyrockets!

Performer Bailey “Bailrok” Muñoz with Elias Terry

Las Vegas COVID Memorial in March 2021

USS Constitution Rigging in Boston