Bio

opened the SFP Studio in Ketchum, Idaho in 2009. Inspired by Sebastiao Salgado who remarked,

“I try with my pictures to raise a question, to provoke a debate, so that we can discuss problems together and come up with solutions,”

Stephanie envisioned a studio that would serve the community as a space that would ignite people’s compassion and motivate them to act.

When you walk into the SFP Studio, you catch a glimpse of who Stephanie is and what she values. You simultaneously feel at home and as if you’ve been whisked away on a sudden safari adventure. The space is inviting and comfortable, yet the studio, like Stephanie’s work, inspires you to think just beyond the boundaries of your lived experience. In other words, it excites your imagination.

Stephanie came to photography with just that idea: wake up the imagination and by doing so, wake up to the world. In the course of her career, Stephanie has explored the endangered wildlife of Africa and its tribal cultures as well the realities facing women and children in Afghanistan and the effect the recent war has had on their lives. She has spent time riding the range around the Rocky Mountains capturing the vanishing culture of the American West and its cowboys. In 2009, Stephanie published SEAL: The Unspoken Sacrifice, a book of her photographs honoring the daily sacrifices made by the U.S. Navy SEALs and their families. In the course of her work, she has traveled to Africa, Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia and many places in between. In all of her travels and through all the images captured, Stephanie works to spotlight the dignity of humanity no matter the shape, size, religion, or country of origin.

In the SFP Studio, you might find an eminent policy specialist discussing his assessment of the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan
surrounded by images of American soldiers and Afghani women. You might walk into a fundraising event for Americans for the United Nations Population Fund. Or you might drop in to see what’s currently on the walls and find yourself in the middle of an impromptu brainstorming session between Stephanie and a friend about the current cholera crisis in Haiti or the nuclear fallout in Japan. Stephanie has been involved in many nonprofit organizations over the years; she has been a member of The Defenders of Wildlife National Council and has worked on the advisory council to promote conservation at the national,
regional and local levels. She is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. Recently, Stephanie has co-founded the Pacific Council / Sun Valley Global Affairs Forum which sponsors a series of lectures and events on global issues. She is also founder of a Sun Valley based think tank, Women Under The Radar, which focuses on issues affecting women and children around the world. Actively involved in protecting women’s rights at home as well as abroad, she has been involved in NARAL Pro-Choice America as well as being the Co-Chair for the annual Americans for the UNFPA “The Family of Woman Film Festival” held each year in Sun Valley, ID. Recognizing that the wider world presents some daunting challenges, Stephanie hopes to inform, provoke discussion and motivate you to act.

“It’s one thing to photograph people; it’s another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness.”
- Paul Strand

Stephanie donates a portion of the proceeds from her photographs to organizations that benefit the subjects of her exhibits.