Lynn Doran is a jack-of-all-trades artist. She works in various mediums, including photography, sewing, printmaking and ceramic sculpture.

Doran says her love of art dates back to her college days when she was getting her art degree. After she graduated college, she began to create items and sell them, placing them in boutiques. She started with handbags and accessories before eventually moving into the garment business, where she founded her company, Natty.

“I am a combination of a businesswoman and artist,” Doran says. “I work out of both sides of my brain. I was a business woman and had my own company for years. And then, in the years after I got out of my company, I have had more emphasis on art.”

Even when she ran her company, Doran prioritized the artistic side of the business.

“I always stayed very close to the design and merchandising part of the company,” Doran says. “I had to run the whole company, but I was always in the design room. So when I got out of the company, I decided to explore the world and photograph. And at that point, I could do whatever I wanted.”

Running her own company was not always easy, especially as a woman entrepreneur.

“[My garment company] was my big success in the working world,” Doran says. “And what I had to overcome was being a woman in business. But you just work hard, and you just keep going no matter what they tried to put in your way.”

After she left her business, she had a shift in perspective. With her garment company, she had to focus on making products that would appeal to the masses.

“When I got out of the company, I could just do whatever I wanted to in art,” she says. “I wasn't worried about selling it. I just did it for me — for my pleasure.”

Since then, Doran has spent time traveling the world. She has found great inspiration in the indigenous cultures of the world and has taken photos wherever she goes, emphasizing these unique cultures in her work.

“In my art world, the biggest accomplishment would be the time I spent in the Omo Valley, when the tribes of the Omo Valley were still self-sufficient,” Doran says. “This was in 2013, before the dam was built, completed in 2016. And I did a photo documentation and published a book on the tribes of the Omo Valley, and it's a great piece. And I'm very proud of that, and it still holds up. And it will pretty much be a historical document because it shows the tribes and how they truly lived.”

Doran photographs in the style of a photojournalist, emphasizing authenticity. She does not stage photos, describing her style as “on the fly” and snapping shots of whatever frames she sees, without a tripod.

“My inspiration comes from either something that pops into my head or something I see,” Doran says. “There's not a formula at all — definitely not a formula. Then that idea that I've gotten, it's like, OK — what do I want to say with it? And what's the best way to say it? Then I'll work with it. Then I’ll go: Is this working? Is saying anything?”

Doran’s long history of doing multiple types of art mediums has led her to evolve into the artist she is now. She is constantly using different mediums and trying new things, still growing as an artist.

“To me, everything feeds off of everything,” Doran says. “Whatever material media you're working in is influenced by everything else you've done.”

You can check out Doran’s book about the Omo tribes on her website here

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