Laura E. Partain is a professional photographer with concentrations in portraiture, music, and fine art work. After graduating in 2012 from
Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a BA in Cinema and Photography and a Journalism minor, Partain moved to Los Angeles
to intern with Jill Greenberg. By that fall, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee and has been a working photographer here ever since.
With 16 years of professional experience, Partain has shot for a variety of clients including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and countless
record labels including Sony, Universal, Rounder, Oh Boy Records, Easy Eye Sound, Third Man Records, and more. Partain considers
herself a “couch musician” these days who used to play local shows in her home turf of Southern Illinois as a singer and guitarist. Eventually
that love of music transcribed itself into music photography, where Partain has enjoyed incredible success working with countless artists,
labels, and music-adjacent companies.
Her work has also been featured in many gallery exhibitions, including at The Frist Art Museum. While she enjoys the work she makes
commercially, Partain strives to consistently shoot just for herself and produce personal work, some of which has further opened doors in the
fine art and gallery exhibition spaces. When Partain isn’t photographing, she loves being in nature and long distance
backpacking. In 2024, she thru hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine with a Hasselblad Xpan, hiking almost 2,200 miles
and shooting upwards of 200 rolls of film for an upcoming personal project. She also enjoys teaching and imparting her wisdom and
experiences to the next generation of serious working photographers, and believes that education and creating community in photography is
imperative to our collective successes.