MEDIA CONTACT
Cody Mattox
Coles Marketing
812-870-1866
​[email protected]

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Nov. 19, 2025) — The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) has announced the recipients of its latest round of Heritage Support Grants, awarding $50,642.97 to 14 local history organizations representing 12 Indiana counties.

​The Heritage Support Grants program, provided by the Indiana Historical Society and made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc., offers critical funding to local, county and regional historical societies, museums and sites. These grants support projects that address high-priority needs in collections stewardship, capacity building, sustainability and planning.

For Susanna Tanner, every photograph is more than a portrait, it’s a reflection of who someone truly is. Her Richmond-based studio has become a place where people show up not just to take pictures, but to be seen.

Her journey to photography started in a very different world. After college, Susanna worked in videography and television, taking internships and jobs at stations in Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Lexington. The work was fast-paced and demanding, but over time, the weight of constantly covering difficult stories began to take its toll. “I was really tired of chasing fire trucks and reporting on things that were always more negative than positive,” she recalls. “I wanted to focus on the good, on people’s real lives.”
​
When she returned home to Richmond, there wasn’t a similar opportunity waiting, so she decided to pivot. Using the skills she’d developed behind the camera; Susanna began experimenting with still photography. She took workshops, studied under other photographers, and over time built a business that blended her technical expertise with her love of storytelling. She formalized her studio as an LLC and balanced it alongside her marketing work until 2020, when she decided to take the leap and make photography her full-time career.