Tanya Ackerman is an award-winning photojournalist who has dedicated her life to telling the stories of people and places through images. She moved to Pawleys Island, S.C., in 2006 to document the community and its culture as encroaching development on the coast threatens to forever change the face of the landscape and the way of life for those who call the area home. Ackerman approaches her job with the same exuberance she approaches life and that is reflected in her work. She goes beyond the surface to get to the heart of a subject, she said, and is always looking for opportunities to tell stories in a way they've never been told before.

"Being an outdoor enthusiast, I spend a great deal of my free time exploring the nooks and crannies of wherever I live and work," she said. "I take my work seriously in a fun-loving and intense way. I like to connect with the people I photograph." Ackerman received a degree in photojournalism from Kent State University and spent six years as a photographer for the Greenville News in Greenville, S.C., where she received numerous awards and honors for her work. She is presently a staff photographer at the Coastal Observer in Pawleys Island.