My name is Tenley Steinke, and I am currently enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. While getting my degree in the Bachelor’s of Science Entrepreneurial Studies program, I am also focusing my future in on photography.  I went to an art school for middle school (FAIR) where I found my love and passion for photography. After high school, I attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa for my first two years of college. Drake is a very good school; it was just not a good fit for me. Since coming to MCAD (2014 fall semester), I have loved my time here and have been a lot more successful. Being back in Minneapolis and receiving an education I enjoy really feels like home, and I could not be more excited to continue my studies at this school.
 

My passion for photography was first uncovered when I was enrolled at FAIR school. I grew up in Golden Valley, Minnesota, about a mile away from FAIR. FAIR differed from public middle schools because it had several specialized art programs other schools did not offer: dance, ceramics, painting, drawing, videography, photography, theatre, and others of the like. In seventh grade my media teacher told my parents and me that I had a ‘special eye’ for taking photos. I have always been able to find different ways to capture an image by utilizing abstract angles or focusing on something less obvious than the largest subject. Not only is it fun and entertaining to take pictures, but it is also a way for me to escape from my mind for a segment of time. I am reminded again, and again to get lost in nature because it is there one will find themselves. Though portrait photography is one of my strengths, there is something about photographing landscapes that have never been explored before. To me, getting lost in nature mends the soul in ways nothing else can. 

 

While nature may be one of my favorite subjects while I am behind the camera, another favorite subject of mine is portrait photography. I love to interact with the subjects and add my flare of creative angles to capture moments that will live forever. Portrait photography is something I could use in future careers. It was not until recently that I landed on a road I am highly interested in pursuing as a future job: advertising or fashion photography. In the future, I would like to work for an agency of some sort that works with magazine companies where pages are covered in models selling a given product. My creative approach to how the pictures are taken could potentially draw in more of an audience just from a first glance. I also have a strong inclination towards the advertising world because I have a strong personality, I am very opinionated, I put myself out there for the world to see, all while demonstrating loyalty and passion.