Photographer Lisa Schnellinger settled in North Georgia in the summer of 2007, after living in Afghanistan, Dubai and Timor-Leste for five years. Her current resume is available here.

The name of her company, Baraka, comes from the word for "gift" or "blessing" in Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu; Sufi mystics used the word to mean "divine essence." Through her travels and life experience, Lisa has learned to appreciate and thrive in many environments by looking for baraka in all situations.

She developed her fine arts photography in travels around the world, while she worked as a writer and journalism trainer, and her photographs have been published in the US and internationally since 1979. Her recent work has been published in five literary journals (see "News and Awards").

Lisa's work from China, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East are featured in special galleries on this site. Her architectural photos are housed at the University of Washington's Cities and Buildings database.

Lisa teaches workshops on all aspects of digital photography, and will custom-design a workshop for your group. She is available for private lessons and consulting in digital photography and related software skills.

Lisa accepts assignments for outdoor and art portraits, artwork and product photography. She also offers custom services, to retouch and develop fine-art prints from personal photos of her clients. See the Services page for details and rates.

A frequent speaker on Afghanistan and the Middle East, Lisa is committed to giving back to the world. Baraka Foundation was established to distribute profits from Baraka Photos sales. 100 percent of profits from the sale of Arghand soaps and scarves, handmade Afghan textiles and clothing, and pashmina shawls go directly to benefit the girls school in Mohammad Agha village of Logar province.