Paulette Brinkmann Wright grew up on a farm in northwestern Ohio. Her favorite thing about farm life was helping her father Paul tend to the livestock. As a little girl, he taught her how to take care of the baby chicks, or the “peeps” as she called them. Paulette later learned how to feed cattle, nurse baby calves, and help her dad and her uncle John on their milk route together. Paulette loved to follow her father around the barn, into grain elevators, farm equipment stores – pretty much everywhere – and her father loved having her company. Subsequently, at a young age, Paulette developed an appreciation for hard work, nature and animals.
Paulette had a strong emotional bond to her father, however, it was her mother Bettie who inspired her to become a photographer. Paulette describes her mother as “the chronicler of the family.” She had a “Brownie Camera” that she used to document important events such as family reunions and their beloved horseshoe tournaments. One day, when Paulette was 11 years old, she asked her mother if she could borrow her camera out of curiosity. And her mother said yes. Paulette said, “I was in heaven! I started taking pictures all the time, honing my photographic skills with that Brownie. It took some time, but gradually I learned to pay attention to light, subject matter and composition.”
During her lifetime, Paulette has worked in the insurance field, in the I.T. department for a newspaper, and as an office manager for an architectural firm. While she was working at Mozingo & Wallace Architects, she met Hank, the man she is now happily married to. Paulette recalls, “He walked into the office and it was basically love at first sight. Mind you, I had never had a reaction to any man who came into the office before, but there was just something about him. I took his business card back to my boss and said, ‘Your 10 am appointment is here and please keep him here as long as you can.’ I was so embarrassed! We will have been married 20 years in September.”
Paulette and her husband have relocated many times because of his work. Paulette says, “Our favorite place we have lived, other than North Carolina, was Glen Allen, Virginia.” The couple also love to travel, so many of her photographs are of the places they’ve explored. Paulette says, “We spent 5 days in France once, traveling to Marseille, Avignon, and Lyon, and ending our trip at Oustau de Baumaniere in a lovely, picturesque French inn outside of Les Baux-de-Provence. We also took a cruise to Alaska in 2019, which was fantastic! But Maui in Hawaii is our ultimate happy place. Oh, such paradise!” In fact, Hank and Paulette have visited 30 of the 50 states in the U.S.!
One year for their anniversary, Hank bought Paulette a Nikon and a more advanced world of photography immediately opened up for her. She currently has 3 Nikons and uses each one for different applications. Paulette says, “ I love seeing beautiful nature in my viewfinder, particularly cows and other animals, and rainbows are a favorite of mine. Also, I find it satisfying to see something I photographed come out so beautifully in print. There are moments that have taken my breath away. I guess that's why I always come back to photography again and again.”
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