Terra Fondriest

    For the past ten years, Terra Fondriest has found herself on the journey of navigating motherhood.  In 2011, with the birth of her first child, she transitioned from her former adventurous career as a wildland firefighter and wilderness wrangler, into a mostly stay-at-home mom at her hilltop house nestled in the Arkansas Ozarks.  It turns out, those prior jobs were no match for the adventure of becoming a mom.  In between changing diapers, growing a garden, wrangling chickens, cutting wood, and taking hikes with the baby in tow, Terra decided to focus more on learning about photography, not only to document her first child and growing family, but also to help understand it.  This new creative outlet ignited her passion for visual storytelling which has grown over time into a long-term personal project called ‘Ozark Life’ where she not only documents her family, but the everyday lives of others within her community as part of a collective patchwork of present day life in the Ozarks.  ‘Ozark Life’ has been a way to experience and share with others the rhythm of life that is so deeply tied to the land and explore the nuances that make living in the Ozarks so unique, yet similar to the human story shared by all.