When you enter Joy’s (@koolblu2) gallery, you are transported to the calm, peaceful world of quaint country living. Born and raised in the rolling foothills of the North Georgia mountains, Joy is no stranger to the beauty and tranquillity of small-town life—nor is she a stranger to the world of photography and photo editing.
“My inspiration for photographing rural life and abandoned places probably came from many Sunday drives in the country as a child,” she shares. “They look like the houses I saw in my youth, and I imagine what they were like when people from the past lived, worked, and played there.”
Nowadays, Joy lives in rural North Carolina, among the beautiful tobacco fields, with the ocean just a few hours east and the mountains a few hours west. “Photographing the rural landscapes here has been a great help in acclimating me to my new environment away from my home state, my family, and the suburbs.”
She may live a quiet life in the country, but Joy has an adventurous spirit. Accompanying her husband on many business trips over the years, she had the opportunity to explore lots of incredible places. She states, “While my husband was working, I was a typical tourist visiting famous sites, only I tended to wander off the beaten path and take many more pictures than the average tourist. I’m motivated by my desire to photograph the beautiful and/or interesting things around me and capturing them in order to revisit them in the future.”
Joy worked in the insurance industry until her daughter was born and then held a series of miscellaneous jobs. “One of the most interesting positions I held was as a driver for a blind piano tuner. His unconventional perspective on life moved me, and I have since attempted to appreciate every aspect in moments of beauty. I try to keep this in mind when I take pictures.”
She discovered PicsArt while looking for a photo editing app for her phone, and the app did not disappoint. Joy says, “It has brought my photography to a new dimension of creativity, allowing me to create what I call ‘digital photo art’ out of even the most ordinary photos.”
She used the app for several years before joining the community to discover new art and share her own. “I have found the community to be encouraging and inviting, and I enjoy viewing others’ work and techniques,” she shares. “I love looking at all the creative photo editing, as well as all the varied types of photography. With photo editing, seeing is not always believing anymore!”
The PicsArt community also gives Joy an opportunity to satisfy her wanderlust and to be a part of a global community. “I love that PicsArt is an international community and I enjoy ‘traveling’ the world through the eyes of others through their photos. Photography really is a universal language.”
This story was prepared by Allegra (@allegra_pa) and Madlene (@madlene_pa). If you have a PicsArt story to share, we would love to read it. Please send an email to [email protected]
