Winthrope Hiers

"My name Is Winthrope Hiers. I was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, on January 11, 1956. My mother was a mathematician for the Atomic Energy Commission and my dad was a construction worker. Before I was a year old, we moved to Savannah, Georgia, where my dad began working for Seaboard Railroad. My mom opened a monogramming business. I attended elementary school at Hancock Day and middle/high school at Savannah Country Day. I received both a bachelor's and master's degree in education from Armstrong Atlantic State University. Over the past three decades I have taught middle school in Tennessee (Mountain City) and Georgia (Hoboken, Richmond Hill, and Savannah where I currently teach sixth grade science at Oglethorpe Charter Middle School).

Photography became more than a method of recording family memories for me in the early 1980's. I discovered a special feeling of excitement when I photographed the natural world. Within a few years I began photographing weddings. Then I moved on to adventure travel photojournalism with credits in such magazines as Peterson's Photographic, Chevrolet Friends, Blue Ridge Country, Mountain Bike Action, and Camping Life. My photographs have been selected for the cover of Smokies Guide; the publication provided to visitors of Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as displays in each of the park's interpretive centers.

Over the years I have placed in a number of photography competitions including:

The 50th Anniversary Great Smoky Mountains National Park Photography Contest" Winthrope Hiers