Sharon and Jessica Bussert

Capturing the beauty of our natural world in the images they take means much more to fine art photographers Jessica and Sharon Bussert than just selling a pretty picture. As the two women travel the world photographing primarily landscape and wildlife images, they hope their work inspires others.

Sharon started taking photographs 45 years ago, and grew up watching her dad develop film and print news photographs. Jessica grew up with artist parents, started taking photos 25 years ago, and has worked in various media, including glass, wood, metal, jewelry-making and print-making. Both women began showing and selling their work about 15 years ago.

While the couple has lived as far away as London, England, they now call Nashville, Indiana, home and describe it as living “in the thick of beauty.”

“Brown County has some of the most interesting lighting and fog conditions we’ve ever seen,” Jessica says. “We’ve traveled to 40 different countries and all 50 states taking pictures, but our most popular images are the ones taken at home, in Indiana.”

Sharon and Jessica say they produce many images as black and white prints because they love the nuances of texture and light. “Nowadays, nearly everyone carries a camera phone with them and takes pictures of everything, and the trend is to print heavily saturated color prints,” Jessica says.

“Our work has a very traditional feel, reminiscent of the early days of photography,” she adds. “We like to work in some of the old photographic processes, as well as digital. Preparing plates, processing negatives or shooting large-format film slows us down and reminds us the best photographs are made, not taken.”

The women create fine art photography in film and digital, using antique large-format film cameras and they operate their own gallery, Bussert Images in Nashville.