“Photography and searching for the beauty in the world are how I found resilience over and over again in the face of adversity,” wrote Krissie Finchum shortly after learning she had won the Fire Island News online cover photo contest. “In many ways, taking pictures has given me strength, kept me grounded, and has kept my mind open to the fact that there is always something beautiful to find if you open your mind to it and look hard enough.”
During our telephone conversation, I learned many interesting things about this young woman. With an 8-month-old son, Krissie, a 41-year-old first-time mother, is engaged to be married. She grew up on Long Island and presently lives in Lindenhurst. Krissie is also a medical technician by trade. She also has a side hustle of crafting beautiful, homemade soaps under the name OhPineapples, which she sells on Etsy as well as a few local shops in Lindenhurst and Babylon.
While Krissie has no professional or academic training in photography, it is clear that she has a keen eye and a love for it.
“That would be from my dad,” Krissie explained. “He loved taking out his camera, and he also had a fondness for lighthouses. I suppose that is why I’m drawn to them, too.”
She lost her father when she was young. Her sister lives in Arizona, and despite the distance, they remain close – the way siblings often become when they had each other as their only companions when they were children.
Which brings us back to the subject of lighthouses.
“I have always viewed them as a symbol of hope and strength,” she stated.
Hope and strength are two things that Krissie Finchum appears to have in abundance.
One story she shared with me during our brief conversation was a testament to that.
“One day, I looked outside and noticed the weather had all the ingredients for a rainbow,” she explained. “So, I got in my car and headed to the lighthouse. I may have broken the speed limit, but I made it there and got my picture. That photo holds a great deal of meaning for me; I took it on Mother’s Day a few years ago, at a time when I was not so sure I would ever become a mother.”
Love endures, and there is magic in rainbows. A sentiment to reflect upon this Memorial Day Weekend.
