Tara Shupe Photography

21/07/2026

For years, I believed I had to fit into one category. I wasn’t simply a photographer, I was a humanitarian photographer.

Then I started recording audio to add another layer to the stories. Filmmaking came next. Before I knew it, I was creating across an entire spectrum and realizing that every new medium was making me a better storyteller.

One of those unexpected paths became wildlife photography and filmmaking. For a long time, I felt insecure about the big lenses I didn’t own and believed people were the only stories my camera and I were meant to tell.

But I began to realize there were remarkable similarities in spending time with any subject, whether human or animal. Both require patience. Both require observation. Both ask you to anticipate the moment... and sometimes neither does exactly what you’d hoped.

Ultimately, I believe conservation stories are human stories. You can’t have one without the other. Over the last six years, conservation assignments have shaped my wildlife work into something I once believed wasn’t meant for me.

So here’s a leopard I photographed on assignment for moments before she decided to jump out of the tree at the “wrong” angle.

15/07/2026

One of the greatest gifts on assignment is working with clients who value both photography and filmmaking, and who allow the time and space to tell a story through each medium.

For - Footprints of Tomorrow, I spent time documenting the people behind the work in each department. From anti-poaching and community programs to research, aviation, and education, every department playing a role in protecting not only wildlife, but the future of this remarkable ecosystem.

Here you can see how photography and film work together to create cohesive storytelling across impact reports, website pages, and social media.

Please go support and check out Grumeti’s new website and the full video!

10/06/2026

“One of the big problems is when women have to go so far. You spend so much time walking. Having better access to clean water really improves things for women. It gives them more time for going to school.” - Habessa, Chad

Read more about Habessa and many other women featured in the Let Her Dream series - link in my bio.

09/06/2026

Women & water
With over 703 million people still lacking basic access to water, every ripple in the source that sustains life carries an undercurrent of hardship, ones that falls primarily on women and children.

From the deserts of Chad and Niger to the hills of Araku Valley, India, I’ve documented how clean water transforms villages, families, and futures. I came to understand that water is not only life itself, but quality of life, and just how particularly vital it is to women and the ability to chase dreams.

Continue reading - link in bio.

08/06/2026

I divided the exhibition into different sections, each representing an emotional or physical hurdle that can keep women from chasing their dreams. From lack of access to clean water to simply having a safe place to land.

Each section weaves together my experiences behind the lens with the stories and words of the women I was fortunate enough to sit down with.

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You can now take a virtual visit through my first Let Her Dream exhibition on my website.

If this work resonates with you, you can support the series by purchasing featured prints, pre-ordering Volume II, or simply sharing it with others.



www.tarashupephotography.com/let-her-dream

04/06/2026

MY OWN LESSONS
It’s amazing how a few years can further shape our understanding of the world and since 2018 this photo series has evolved alongside my own life. I entered motherhood and walked through my own seasons of change, and as I sat quietly on kitchen floors or sang loudly while bouncing down dirt roads, I began to see the art of women’s lives in what felt like a spiritual form.

Not every story pulled me back to my original inspiration, but this time I held my camera with a greater sense of responsibility, and with deeper empathy and connection to the heart of it all…this was never a singular story, but one woven across cultures, chapters, and endless time…

Women were at the core of it all: the refugee mother who had the strength to leave, the young girl who woke at 4 a.m. to make the dangerous walk for water, the woman who risked it all to save a battered neighbor. Every single story ingrained in my heart forever and here on these walls.

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You can now do a little virtual visit on my website of my first Let Her Dream exhibition. You can support this series by purchasing some of the featured prints, pre-ordering volume II, or simply sharing this with others.

www.tarashupephotography.com/let-her-dream

03/06/2026

You can now do a little virtual visit on my website of my first Let Her Dream exhibition.

You can also support this series by purchasing some of the featured prints, pre-ordering volume II, or simply sharing this with others.

Discover inspiring women's stories through humanitarian and documentary photography by Tara Shupe. Explore limited edition gallery prints and stories that remind us chasing our dreams is something we should all be able to do.

22/04/2026

From the Serengeti Grasslands to the moss covered mountains of Alaska, I’m thankful to share space and document some of the beauty of this Earth.

So in honor of Earth Day I’ll be gifting away a FREE wildlife print to a person that comments: “WILD EARTH”

If you win I’ll message you to get shipping details!

16/04/2026

My stories from India, especially those with (which evolved from Covenant Children’s Homes), will always hold a special place in my heart.

Now with over ten years of experience as a humanitarian photographer and storyteller, I can still remember my first time documenting a girls home in Southern India. Little did I know I would one day see those same girls years later, now holding children of their own. (Yes…making me feel old.)

After this most recent trip, I started pulling together some of those side by side moments. If you want to see more behind the scenes, you can join my newsletter through the link in my bio.

Until then, here is a beautiful morning capturing a new family being supported by Restoring Hope Asia and their team.