more about me
I am a Texas girl born & raised
I have always been drawn to the ocean + beach since little. I vividly remember being 6 years old, riding in a mini-van through Southern California with my family, looking out the window, daydreaming about how I would live there one day…
I am the oldest of 4 kids,
this is one of my brothers
After graduating High School, I lived in Switzerland for a time before attending College/University
& guess what she did it! She DID move to Southern California! I attended College/University in Southern California & have my degree in International + Intercultural Studies.
We got married in dreamy Malibu,
at The Adamson House
& then we moved to Oregon, with our big FLOOF - Bear!
I met the love of my life at school
In the in-between of life, and outside of photography, you will find me -
traveling - to experience other peoples, places, & cultures. I have been to 31 countries so far for work + leisure. I feel so honored when I get to experience a different culture than mine.
scrapbooking - I enjoyed “scrapbooking” this page… but usually you will find me using paper materials
singing & playing music
learning about the body and health related things {I am VERY passionate about this & spend a lot of my time reading + researching}
spending time with close friends & family
arranging flowers
meeting new people
a good fast run
cooking new recipes
alright, that’s a bit about me…
“One day he’ll tell me to start packing. Without a question in sight my soul will sing hallelujah. It will be at dusk, my imagination remembers it so. And we will get wildly excited for all the unknown reasons. I’ll water the plants, turn off the salt lamps and watch them melt. I’ll notice how happy I was here and pack everything precious into a bag or two. My days of buying wooden bowls and rattan baskets will be mere “remember the days”. I’ll smile at the waiting and won’t even ask why we are leaving because this drifter’s heart has known, under the wrestle of her composed demeanor, all her pretty life.” - Tess Guinery
our story
NEA {nay•uh} came from the initials of my name🤍
Abby Elizabeth Nan is my full name -
& here's how NEA came about.
Since I was a kid I was designing.
Designing spaces - turning our playroom into different themed experiences - Cinderella’s castle, Pirates of the Caribbean cove, a haunted mansion, etc.
This playroom that was normally filled with toys and bright lights and play would somehow become an immersive experience in which you could enter a different world - one fully created by my imagination.
I would usually set up dinners in these “experiences” I would create, and have all my siblings and parents come take part in what I had created.
A different world out of something ordinary.
Then came photography; my desire to try and capture things through this lense that my eyes saw the world through - ocean waters that always sparkle, sunbeams that seem otherworldly to me, the eyes and eyelashes of people and how they move differently when they are excited about something.
I have traveled around the world and seen so many cultures and beautiful spaces that are curated in a way for people to experience the land in which they are visiting - hotels, cuisine, landscapes, people, etc.
NEA is an ode to combining all of the things that I love - helping brands in imagining the world they are trying to create, and then telling that immersive story through photograph.
Let me share my looking glass with you and help your guests or clients enter through the world in which you have imagined.