"I place my subject into the light and then direct by not directing. My method is more of a witnessing – my technique more of an intuition."

"I find my muse behind the mystery of youth. I approach this muse cautiously, like an anthropologist lost, but hunting, in a suburban backyard with a snaking hose and retreating black dog. I place my subject into the light and then direct by not directing. My method is more of a witnessing – my technique more of an intuition. If my camera is conspicuous, spontaneity is lost and the image becomes crafted. Instead I stand waiting for the genius in them that shows me that essence of innocence. I am collecting flashes of vulnerability that reveal in us a relation to a child who, unknowingly, understands all we seek to discover. I ask of them only to be children.

Living in Los Angeles has imbued in me the idea that every patch of sunlight can be a stage. The characters, though, have to be chosen carefully, and while my casting process is instinctual, I connect to them via place, and my faith that the story will come. The overabundant sun tortures one who wants clouds for depth and tone, subtlety and threat. But grass will grow between the cracks in a sun-blasted sidewalk. If I'm lucky, if I'm ready, if my intuition serves me – then I unveil its truths and tell my story."

Natalie Obermaier was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1978. A magna cum laude graduate of Philadelphia's Drexel University with a degree in Photography, she has also worked alongside noted photographer, Jock Sturges, as a model, assistant and master printer. Natalie has traveled extensively, creating portraits in Turkey, Costa Rica, South Africa, Mexico, parts of Europe, and the United States. Only using film and her medium format camera, Natalie's breathtaking prints have been have been widely published and exhibited throughout the United States. Natalie currently resides in Venice Beach, CA.