Sarah Bourne Rafferty (Sarah Atwater Bourne) received a MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA and received a BA in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography and Book Arts from Warren Wilson College near Asheville, North Carolina. She has continued her studies at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, BookWorks in Asheville, NC and Maine Media in Camden, ME. 

Sarah's work ranges from photographs to books to prints with a particular love for alternative process/non-silver photography. She is engaged in a line of inquiry that stretches beyond a particular medium. Sarah is mesmerized by the interweaving of thoughts into words. She is consistently inspired by the natural world, be it her small back yard or adventures on mountain tops far away. Parts of the natural world often appear intertwined with words or lines of text as she tries to dissect what is happening with the changing of the seasons and how they can relate to communication.

She is the founder of Atwater Designs, a cyanotype design studio that produces original cyanotypes, fine art prints and paper goods. Her more experimental and personal work is what appears here in her portfolio. She is also a teacher of photography to high school students and finds working with students to be integral in her process. Sarah's work has been shown both nationally and internationally. She currently lives, makes, and teaches in Southeastern PA.