The art of photographer Jeanna Shepard takes over the Feldman Family Art Space at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center in an exhibit that runs through Sept. 12.

In her artist statement, Ms. Shepard says that photography has always been a part of her life. Her father was a publisher of Good Housekeeping and an executive vice president of Heart Publications and so she was introduced to magazines and photographers and editors at a young age. This early immersion made its mark and continued as she forged her own career as a photographer.

But shooting for newspapers changed her life, she said. She currently works as a freelancer for the Vineyard Gazette.

“I did all my learning on the job, where you have to react quickly and either be in or get in the right position,” she said of her newspaper work.

Ms. Shepard’s photography travels the emotional spectrum, from light-hearted to serious, from traditional Vineyard scenics to finely crafted detail work, from vacationers to on-the-job Islanders. Each photograph captures not only the decisive moment, but also a decisive way of life. Her Vineyard photography makes the Island come alive in both familiar and surprising ways.

Ms. Shepard also has a portraiture and fine art photography business along with an ongoing project called Life Within the Journey, in which she photographs pediatric cancer patients on their day of treatment, and travels with a gallery throughout Connecticut for childhood cancer awareness. ​

The exhibit is a collaboration between the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society and Featherstone Center of the Arts.