Macon Magazine

prominent local photographer Ken Krakow, led to him asking what she wanted to do with her life. "I told him I'd like to move to New York and become a photographer," she said. Instead he put forth a proposition: "He appreciated my work ethic on a rush job and asked if I'd like to come assist him and he'd teach me what he could, and then maybe I could move to New York." With Ken as her mentor, she got a crash course in every facet of the business. "I was handling everything from customer booking and scheduling to assisting on location shoots, carrying camera bags and photography," she said. Leah spent the next few years gleaning every bit of knowledge and experience she could, "sometimes putting in 60 hours a week. But I loved every minute of it. His crucial mentorship was my college education." Leah's work ethic was strong, and her work soon became her priority: "I was really overworked, taking on so many jobs just to afford my house." As the pressure mounted, devastation struck with the untimely passing of her mother, an event signifying a time for change and healing. "My dear friend Jessica Walden was writing an article about a Georgia businessman in Warner Robins and his other life as a Wyoming rancher. She asked, 'What do you think about going out to Wyoming and photographing a cattle branding?' I was like, 'What's a cattle branding? What's a Wyoming?'" Leah had no intention of being in Wyoming long but "the smell of sage brush, the bright blue sky, the big beautiful sun and no trees was a peaceful place, and it won me over." A few months later, she transported her life to the mountains. "I went out there with no idea what to expect, but before long, I was waist deep in mud, assisting in the birthing of calves and photographing the Western lifestyle. At one point, I was slithering on my belly through sheep poop in the mountains to photograph huge herds of rams. I loved it," Leah said. While working for the ranch, she started a blog, aptly named Uprooted Magnolia – she lived on Magnolia Street before she moved out West – depicting her life on the ranch "O n a Tuesday in 1978, my mother went into labor – is that where we start?" Leah Yetter joked through a bright smile as we walked down the sidewalk of her mother's childhood neighborhood. "Macon is comfort to me. It is where I grew up, where I learned my craft and where I feel at home," she said. When tragedy struck and the pressure of her career/life balance became too much, Leah, a local photographer, followed her camera out West to find healing, and that healing ultimately led her back to her hometown for good. "My dad was a photographer for Olan Mills, but it didn't really catch my interest until after high school," she said. While waiting tables, Leah got a glimpse of photography outside of photo studios and, with a piqued interest, she took a job at Express Stop Photo. A fateful conversation with a customer, CHOOSING MACON Leah Yetter A series featuring individuals from our community who, after some time away, have returned to share their skills and talents here. BY KELLEY DIXSON PHOTO BY MIKE YOUNG 32 maconmagazine.com | APRIL/MAY 2021

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