Gail Goodwin

Digital photography and digital imaging, what sets Gail apart from her photoshop counterparts is her use of traditional techniques, transforming each photograph into an undeniably unique portrait. She paints every photograph by hand with transparent Marshall Oil Paints, giving the piece of art a translucent and classical quality. Each image allows you to be swept away to imagine a story behind it. Gail’s body of work has created photos bursting with love, power and fun that grows out of family and friendship. Her youthful subjects embody the spirit of freedom and the celebration to be ourselves. Her photos are a reminder to laugh, love and to embrace the gift of friendship and belonging.
From an early age Gail Goodwin knew she’d be an artist. Her first artistic memories were as a young girl drawing pictures with her father at her childhood home in Southern California. Through the years her parents continued to reinforce her interest in art, buying her art books and encouraging her to pursue an artistic education. She took her first picture at ten with a Box Brownie, and experimented with pastels and oil paints through high school. She didn’t know at the time that she’d ultimately combine the mediums she discovered as a child to pioneer her own award-winning style of hand-tinted photography using translucent Marshall Oils.
Gail studied at the Brooks Institute of Photography and Cal Arts, where she learned formal composition and technique, and began her professional career in 1977 working for a relief agency in Guatemala, documenting projects following a devastating earthquake. In Guatemala she discovered her love for photographing children and saw how even in the direst of times, the hopes and dreams of children can triumph through the lens of the camera. Dreams and fantasies are pervasive in her current work with children and her portraiture. The hand-crafted vintage styling she frequently selects helps to reinforce this theme. Candid. Playful. Uninhibited . Gail’s work captures “decisive moments” that life offers, an idea made famous in the work one of Gail’s greatest creative inspirations, the 20th century French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Gail says, “In taking photographs, you are presented the opportunity to capture a moment in time, and you must intuitively know when to participate and when to observe, that’s the moment of creativity.”
Of course, photographing her own kids served as her greatest inspiration. In the 30 year span of her career Gail’s images have come to be known as some of the best recognized in American culture, frequently seen on best selling greeting cards, calendars, posters and puzzles. Gail is the author of two books, Fabulous Friends, and Dream it. Dare it. Do it. Photography books dedicated to empowering young girls through camaraderie and friendship.
A frequent and free-spirited traveler, Gail divides her time between her home and studio the San Francisco Bay area and Kauai, HI.